Following his appointment to continue serving as the Executive Director III of the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) last January 17, Dr. Arnel Del Barrio took his oath of office before Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary William Dar last February 3 at the DA, Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City.
His oath-taking ceremony was witnessed by the PCC’s top management staff and Dr. Del Barrio’s family.
His roles and responsibilities as the executive director include: (a) overseeing the implementation of PCC’s Carabao Development Program; (b) setting of the direction for the agency’s goals and the integrated management system policy and objectives; (c) ensuring that resources are available for the effective implementation of PCC’s integrated management system; and (d) supervising the PCC to ensure that all of its targets are achieved.
Prior to his appointment, he was first appointed by former DA Secretary Proceso Alcala in June 2014 as the new head of the said agency. He succeeded former executive director Dr. Libertado Cruz who served the PCC for some 20 years before retiring in 2014.
Dr. Del Barrio was a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, had masteral and PhD degrees in ruminant nutrition in the same institution, and a postdoctoral research certificate in animal nutrition at the Kansas State University in United States of America. His first stint at PCC started as a science research specialist under the Philippine Carabao Research and Development Center (PCRDC) project in 1983, the precursor of PCC.
After that, he became the center director of PCC at UPLB in 1997.
In 2010, under his leadership, Dr. Del Barrio and PCC at UPLB were cited as “Most Outstanding Center Director” and “Outstanding Regional Center”, respectively.
Furthermore, he served as president of the following professional organizations: Philippine Society of Animal Science in 2007 to 2008, Philippine Society of Animal Nutritionists in 2003 to 2005 and the Associations of Professionals in Livestock Production in 2000 to 2001.
He was also awarded the “2000 Outstanding Young Scientist” by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) for his significant contributions to science and technology and was conferred the title Scientist I under the Scientific Career System on June 30, 2014 due to his professional expertise and credibility as an animal nutritionist and a technical specialist.
