Isidro Velayo Jr. appointed as BFAR OIC

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has appointed career official Isidro Velayo Jr. as officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), following an Ombudsman order dismissing the agency’s director Demosthenes Escoto.

In a statement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Velayo’s appointment would ensure the BFAR’s continue operations and implementation of the agency’s major projects moving forward.

“My marching order to him is to ensure that operations of the agency will not be affected by this legal development,” Tiu Laurel said.

Velayo previously served as national coordinator of the BFAR’s seaweed program, and regional director for the Zamboanga Peninsula.

This comes as the DA said it received an order from the Ombudsman which found Escoto guilty of grave misconduct in a graft case in connection to the BFAR’s procurement of communications equipment in 2018.

It noted, however, that Escoto could still seek reconsideration of the Ombudman’s decision or directly appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals.

Under its mandate, the BFAR is tasked to prepare and implement a comprehensive national fisheries industry development plan, formulate rules and regulations for the conservation and management of straddling fish stocks and highly migratory fish stocks, and assist local government units in developing their technical capability.

The Ombudsman's decision on the Escoto's case indicated that Escoto, while in the exercise of his official function as chairman of the BAC, "clearly gave unwarranted benefit or advantage to SRT-France and SRTUK."

Escoto in the course of the Ombudsman proceedings said that SRT-France was qualified and eligible to bid for the transceivers project.  — RSJ/NB, GMA Integrated News