Secretary Nasser C. Pangandaman, who was born on
8 August 1956, in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur , has
joined the Department since March 2002, as Undersecretary
for Mindanao Affairs. On 8 June 2007, two years after
his assumption as Officer in Charge of the Department
and in recognition of his dedicated service and demonstrated
leadership, Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo bestowed him a well-deserved appointment as
Agrarian Reform Secretary.
Prior to his stint in DAR, he held vital positions
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
He served as Regional Chief of Staff in the Office
of the Regional Governor, and was designated as Chairman
of the ARMM Task Force for Flagship Projects in August
1997. He also worked as a Special Assistant to the
ARMM Regional Governor from April to August 1997
in concurrent capacity and Chairman of the ARMM 2000
Executive Committee. He also served as Operations
Officer in the Office of the SVP, Matling Industrial
and Commercial Cooperation and President of the Matling
Multi-Purpose Cooperative from 1984 to 1990.
At present, he also serves as the Chairpersonof
the PARC Executive Committee and Vice-Chaiperson
of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council. He also
sits as a member of the LandBank Board of Directors
and a Director of the Quedancor Board.
Educated at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran for
his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, he took
up law in San Beda College and the University of
San Jose, Cebu City. He also trained in Mediation/Conciliation
as well as Human relation skills. He has attended
various seminars and conferences here and abroad.
Among his notable international exposure are the
following:
- Chairperson, 16th Governing Council Meeting of
the Center on Integrated Rural Development for
Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP)
- Member, Official Delegation of President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo's State Visit to Saudi Arabia
- Official Representative, German Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) Headquarter's visit, Frankfurt, Germany
- Head of Delegation and Official Representative
of the President to the International Conference
on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD),
Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Official Representative to the Korea Agriculture
and the Cooperative System National Agricultural
Cooperative Federation (NAFC) Seoul, South Korea
and Wongam Agricultural Cooperative, Kyonggi Province
- Member, TWG regarding territory during the 10th
GRP-MILF Exploratory talks, Fort Dixon, Malaysia
- Member, GRP Panel, 7th Exploratory Talks between
the GRP and MILF, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Head, ARMM Delegation, International Labor Organization
(ILO) Conference on Indigenous Communities, Chang
Mai, Thailand
- ARMM Representative in the Sultunate of Brunie
Darussalam
- Head - ARMM Delegation, Senior Officials Meeting
- Ujung Pandang, Indonesia
- Head - ARMM Business Delegation, Manado, Indonesia
- Head - Philippine Media Delegation, Ministry
of Public Information, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- Member, supervisory Group, Piel, Haj Mission
to Mecca, Saudi Arabi
For his outstanding performance, he received several
awards and citations including the Plaque of Recognition
as Chairperson of the 16th Center of International
Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP)
Governing Council meeting held in Manila on June
2007. He is a recipient of the First Farmers Convention
and Training Award of the Capiz State University
in Roxas City and the UP Forestry Development Center
Award in Davao City. Media Organizations such as
the Philippine Media Association and the Mindanao
Inquirer lauded him as Outstanding DAR Undersecretary
and Outstanding Public Servant respectively.
While a recipient of various awards and citations,
Secretary Boy, as he is fondly called by his fellow
officials and employees in the Department, remains
unassuming and unaffected by the accolades he gets
from his peers. Always the simple leader that he
is, his first directives when he became OIC-DAR Secretary
were to simplify the procedures in processing documents
and activities in the department and to avoid lavish
preparations during his field visits in the regions
and provinces.
Secretary Pangandaman is the son of Atty. Liningding
and Sittie Esther Pangandaman. He is married to Bai
Yasmin Pacasum Pangandaman. They have three children.
