Unsung hero

LAST week, a highly respected colleague and one of the Department of Agriculture's (DA) hard-working officials, Ramon "Mon" Yedra, succumbed to bile duct cancer. He did not suffer long because he was diagnosed early April and he passed away last May 6. It was so quick that all of us who knew him were shocked and greatly saddened by the loss of another highly competent DA worker.

Mon was the deputy director of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) when he was handpicked during the leadership of Secretary William Dar to help the department's Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Services (AMAS) unit. Dar wanted someone who understood the needs of the private sector and who was trained accordingly, and knew the importance of AMAS in developing markets for our agri-entrepreneurs.