New leader takes helm at DAR Eastern Visayas

By JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA
August 23, 2021

TACLOBAN CITY – A Basilan-born lawyer-accountant now heads the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Eastern Visayas following his installation on Wednesday last week.

Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu replaced Ismael Aya-ay by virtue of Department Special Order No. 283 issued by Agrarian Reform Secretary Brother John Castriciones on August 2, this year.

Prior to his new assignment, Yu was the Director of the Planning Service at the DAR Central Office. He joined DAR in 2001 as a contract of service (COS) employee and rose from the ranks.

Upon passing the bar, Yu was appointed Attorney-V of the Legal Service. Since then, he was assigned to the different units in central office exposing him to problems encountered in the field including Agri-business Venture Agreement (AVA) and land conversion, as well as procurement and other administrative matters.

His first field assignment was as Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (PARAD) having been assigned to the provinces of Bataan, Zambales and Zamboanga del Norte on separate occasions.

He also served as Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD) in MIMAROPA Region, radiating in the island provinces of Palawan, Marinduque and Mindoro as PARAD.

Yu disclosed that Region 8 is his first assignment as Regional Director.

In his message during his installation as the 21st DAR Regional Director to serve this region since the agency was created on September 10 1971, he encouraged transparency, team work and immediate resolution to every concerns and issues. “I don’t want problems to persist, I want solutions to resolve the concerns and issues,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Aya-ay, who served as OIC-Regional Director for the past 15 months, concurrent Assistant Regional Director (ARD) for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development and Sustainability Program (ARBDSP) and Agrarian Legal Service, will focus as ARD for Administration.

Under the same special order, OIC-Assistant Regional Director for Administration and Land Tenure Service, Ma. Fe Malinao, is designated Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II (PARPO II) for Southern Leyte.