Conrado Masonsong Estrella III was appointed by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. as the new Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), a farm advocate as influenced by his late grandfather, Conrado F. Estrella Sr., that held the same post during the administration of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.

 

Under Secretary Estrella’s leadership, the DAR and the LANDBANK Board of Directors approved on September 28, 2022, the landmark Joint Administrative Order providing the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Executive Order No. 4 Series of 2022, which declares a moratorium on the payment of land amortization and interests for agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) who received agricultural land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

 

He started his career in public service as a provincial board member and was Chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Reform from 1980-1985.

 

He is a veteran lawmaker, having been elected to the House of Representatives from 1987 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2010. At the age of 26, he was elected Congressman of the 6th District of Pangasinan and became one of the youngest elected representatives in the 8th Congress, where he remained an active member of the Committee on Agrarian Reform.

 

Secretary Estrella also served in the Executive Department from 1998 to 2000 as Administrator of the National Electrification Administration. 

 

From 2013 to 2022, he represented the Abono Partylist in the House of Representatives, where he focused on the needs of the agricultural sector and authored more than 90 measures in support of Filipino farmers. He also served as one of the Deputy Speakers of the 18th Congress. His career as a public servant remains undefeated to this day.

 

Among the bills he filed in the last three years include proposals to strengthen the resiliency of farmers against climate change, improve the financing system for farmers and fishers, and establish "instructional gardening programs" in all elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines.