(Eagle News) – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has appointed Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology chief Renato Solidum Jr., to head the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Malacanang press secretary Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed Solidum’s appointment as DOST secretary on Friday, August 12.
Before the appointment, Solidum also served an Undersecretary for Disaster Risk Reduction-Climate Change Adaptation of the DOST.
He has worked with PHIVOLCS since 1984, and became its Director in 2003 up to February 2017. He was appointed Undersecretary of the DOST in March 2017 and had since then served as PHIVOLCS officer-in-charge.
Solidum is a geologist and obtained a BS Geology degree from the University of the Philippines. He then finished his M.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago and his Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.
He replaces Fortunato dela Peña who had served as DOST chief under the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to June 2022.
(Eagle News Service)
