MANILA - House Deputy Speaker Conrado Estrella III has been chosen as the next Agrarian Reform secretary, the camp of President-elect Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., said on Wednesday.

Estrella III accepted the appointment after a nearly 2-hour meeting with the incoming President, Marcos' team said in a statement.

Estrella III served as Pangasinan lawmaker before he became a nominee of the Abono Party-list, which supposedly represents agricultural workers.

The lawmaker's ascent to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) marks the return of an Estrella to the agency.

Estrella's grandfather, former Gov. Conrado F. Estrella Sr., also served as agrarian reform chief from 1971 to 1986 under the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the incoming president's father.

In 2015, Estrella III was among the lawmakers charged for the pork barrel scam, which alleged that several legislators pocketed billions of taxpayers' money through bogus non-government organizations.

Estrella III had denied receiving P45 million in kickbacks from alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, and told officials that his signature was forged on several documents related to the corruption scheme.

In 2016, Estrella was among the party-list representatives criticized for filing less than 5 bills during his 3-year term in the House of Representatives.

But from 2019 to 2022, the lawmaker seemed to have made up for it as his profile in the House website showed that he was the principal author of at least 90 measures in the 18th Congress.

Among the bills he filed in the last 3 years include proposals to "strengthen the resiliency of farmers against climate change," improve the financing system for farmers and fisherfolk, and establishing "instructional gardening programs" in all elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines.

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