Department of Agriculture
Engr. Arnel V. de Mesa is one of the innovative leaders in agri-fishery sector development given his valuable contributions to the advancement of technologies that have cascaded into better policy strategies and procedures in rural development and engagement with local government units. As such, in 2006, he was appointed as Deputy Program Director of the DA and World Bank-assisted Mindanao Rural Development Program or MRDP.
He is an agricultural engineer by profession, with a major in agricultural meteorology, who graduated from the University of the Philippines– Los Baños in 1996. He was among the country’s top ten engineers during the 1996 agricultural engineering licensure examination. He was also awarded the Distinguished College Alumnus for Rural Development and Governance in 2016 and Outstanding UPLB Alumni Award for Rural Development and Governance in 2019. His skills in project development were further honed when he took up project and procurement management course at the Asian Institute of Management, and country project implementation and administration course at the Asian Development Bank.
He is a Career Executive Service Officer who was at the top ten during the 2013 written examination for Career Executive Service Professional. He was then appointed by the President of the Philippines as Department of Agriculture Regional Technical Director for Davao Region in the same year.
Engr. de Mesa has a distinguished career in public service, having been conferred as CESO IV in 2018 and promoted to CESO III rank in 2021. He has served in various leadership roles within the Department of Agriculture, including Regional Executive Director of DA-CALABARZON and as concurrent Assistant Secretary for Operations.
In 2022, he was appointed as a full-fledged Assistant Secretary of the Department. He is currently serving as the Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns and Official Development Assistance, as well as the Department of Agriculture Spokesperson since October 2023. Throughout his career, Assistant Secretary de Mesa has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service and has made significant contributions to the agricultural and fisheries sector.