Ramón Paje

Ramon Paje
Ramon Paje
Secretary of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources
	In office; June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2016
President	Benigno Aquino III
Preceded by	Horacio Ramos
Succeeded by	Gina Lopez
Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources
President	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Personal details
Born	-; November 27[when?]
Died	-; -
Resting place	-; -
Nationality	Filipino
Parent	-; -;
Occupation	Politician

Ramón Jesús P. Paje is a Filipino civil servant. He was the 19th secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Prior to his appointment, he was DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations and Executive Director of the Minerals Development Council under the Office of the President in concurrent capacity.

Education and early career

A holder of a doctorate degree in public administration and a top-rank Career Executive Service Officer (CESO I), Paje's appointment marks the second time in the DENR's 23-year history to have the proverbial "bottom-to-top" success by a rank-and-file employee.

Fresh from college, Paje began his civil service career in 1982 as a junior forester conducting field inspection of reforestation projects of then Bureau of Forest Development (now the Forest Management Bureau), then rose from the ranks serving the environment and natural resources sector in various capacities, including undersecretary for environment and programs development, assistant secretary for management services, director for human resources development, among others.

Paje is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB). He finished his M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning and Doctor of Public Administration at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. He has a Certificate on Environmental Economics and Policy Analysis from Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Awards

In 1996, the newly installed DENR chief received the following awards: Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) from the Philippine Jaycees, Outstanding Professional of the Philippines from the Professional Regulation Commission, and the Outstanding Alumnus in Government Service from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños. In 1999, he was the Dr. Jose Rizal "Huwarang Pilipino Awardee" for public service given by the Parangal ng Bayan Awards Foundation.^[1]

Family

Ramón Paje is married to Joseliza Santos, with whom he has two children.

As DENR Secretary

Undersecretary Paje took over the helm of the Environment Department from Horacio Ramos. It was earlier speculated that Ramos will be retained for one year after the ban on appointing defeated candidates has been lifted and senatorial bet Neric Acosta can replace him. His environmental policy is very much criticized by numerous environmental and human rights organizations, both local and international, due to his pro-mining stance and pro-big business agenda. Numerous environmental certificates were awarded by him to big business ventures without any study and analysis made. Numerous mining firms under his administration also blossomed, resulting to environmental destruction in various locations in the country, especially in provinces where indigenous peoples had ancestral domains. His actions in the helm of the DENR also resulted into the establishment of various coal-powered plants despite vocally mandating his renewable energy agenda. Despite this, he finished his term without being taken out by President Noynoy Aquino.^[2]