GMA reappoints Dr. Alabastro

Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reappointed Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro as Secretary of Department of Science and Technology who joined new and old cabinet officials in a simple induction ceremony Monday night at the Malacañang Palace.

Sec. Alabastro's first appointment to the post was on March 12, 2001.  She was DOST undersecretary for research and development since July 1995.

The reappointment provides continuity of DOST programs and support to the President's 10-point agenda and the Medium Term Development Plan for the next six years to advance the economy and support the development of business sectors through science and technology.

DOST's Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) is designed to benefit small and medium enterprises through infusion of relevant technological innovations and support services to create stable employment especially among rural poor.

Since its inception in 2002, SETUP provided 256 development projects and farmed out P106 million-worth of financial aid to SMEs nationwide.

Sec. Alabastro was officer-in-charge of DOST Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development from July 1997-April 1998, and Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development from July 1991-January 1995.

She also had stints as professorial lecturer at University of the Philippines College of Home Economics, and the Technology Management Center.

She is recipient of several awards, including the Most Outstanding Alumna of the UP College of Engineering (1977), the Achievement Award in Food Technology from the National Research Council of the Philippines (1987) and Fellow for Outstanding Achievement in Food Research from the Philippine Association of Nutrition (1988). She is also a three-time president of the Philippine Association of Food Technologists.  She has written several research papers on food technology and processes.  Secretary Alabastro was born on 19 February 1941.