Keynote Speaker

Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs
Department of Agriculture

Dr. Ernesto S. Gonzales graduated from the University of the Philippines – Diliman,
Quezon City with a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1977.

He was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to become the 11th Executive Director of the National Meat Inspection Service, an office he held for 3 years from March 2017. It was during his stint as NMIS Director that we get to know him as a rabbit industry co-advocate.

Before he accepted a government post, Dr. Gonzales was a livestock industry practitioner, particularly swine production. He was a businessman farmer and one of only a few farmers in the Philippines certified as practicing organic farming. His advocacies include diversified farming and urban farming for sustainability and food security. He raised high value crops, free-range chicken and rabbits in his Davao farm. In his farm rabbits are raised for food. The farm is accredited by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) as a learning site and service provider for farming systems and used as a model to encourage small farmers to go into organic farming. For his work and contribution to farming he was previously awarded the prestigious Gawad Saka Award for High Value Crops.

He assumed his present post as Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs in September 2019, and has since travelled around the country to promote his food sufficiency campaign