Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. last week named Bato-born lawyer Paz J. Benavidez II as the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Regulations in the latest senior leadership revamp in the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Atty. Benavidez, who was the department’s Assistant Secretary for Regulations in 2023, replaced Noel A. Padre who has been named Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development.
A veteran environmental and agri-fishery lawyer, Benavidez served as the Assistant Secretary for Regulations from 2014 to 2015 and as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Project Development from 2015 to 2016.
Prior to her current stint, she worked in the House of Representatives as Chief Political Affairs Officer and in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as technical assistant to the Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs.
The former OIC-Director of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) also taught environmental law at the College of Engineering at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and is a highly published legal researcher in the field of fisheries law, bioprospecting, and food safety.
Atty. Benavidez completed her Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts in History (cum laude) degrees from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and became a member of the Philippine Bar in 1996.
She is the daughter of former National Power Corporation plant engineer Jorge Gianan Benavidez of Palta and teacher Paz Marino Joson of Bato, and one of the sisters of the late Napocor President and Chief