Feature News Article: Aklan State University – College of Agriculture, Forestry and Environmental Sciences (ASU-CAFES) Professor: One of thirty-nine International Contributors of the book entitled “Rural Governance: International Perspective”, put in place the ASU and Sibalew’s experiences to the international perspectives.

Dr. Roberto L. Saladar’s part of his research work in his PhD thesis entitled Rural Barangay Transformation and the Adoption of Agroforestry Innovation in the Philippines was chosen by Linda Cheschire, Vaughan Higgins and Geoffrey Laurence, the editors of the book entitled Rural Governance: International Perspectives published by Routledge: Studies in Human Geography, USA and Canada in 2007.

In the interview, Dr. Saladar mentioned: I don’t expect to be one of the 39 contributors in this book, but I am happy that through my research work, the ASU and Sibalew's experiences in the implementation of extension projects has been internationally recognized and shared not only by the Routledge Editors, but also to other researchers, professionals, students and readers of the book entitled Rural Governance: International Perspectives.

In this book, Dr. Saladar and Dr. Alison Loveridge from the University of Canterbury are the contributors of Chapter 9 – Transformation and Representation in Barangay Sibalew, the Philippines. The editors summarized this chapter as: …an analysis of the ways local partnerships has helped to transform Sibalew, an isolated, Hispanicized village in the Philippines. Concentrated development efforts in one area have over a long period in time, facilitated the diversification of farming methods, created new economic activities, and introduced urbanized lifestyles. This concentration of effort was the outcome of the establishment of a working relationship between the people of Sibalew and the local university. In an environment where resources were limited and dependent upon visible results, the efforts of university staff could not be distributed equally in the neighborhood. A trickle down approach, where Sibalew was treated as model village that could be showcase to others, inevitably led to other institutions “cashing in” on the initial networks and contributing services and development programmes that kept up the momentum for change. But this classic scenario of modernization was accompanied by a quite narrow notion of participation. And, although local leaders were genuinely committed to notions of participation and democracy, the processes and outcomes of what was essentially, top-down development compromised local good governance (The Editors).

Dr. Loveridge was his thesis supervisor during his PhD in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. According to Dr. Saladar: working with Dr. Lovebridge provided him the opportunity to review and examine some methodological and theoretical problems and issues in doing qualitative research, and to formulate sociological understanding on the complexities of human and technical elements involved in social change and development process.

There were thirty nine contributors involved in the first publication of the book “Rural Governance: International Perspectives. Among them are the professors, lecturers, researchers, directors, planners, doctoral and masteral candidates, sociologists, political scientists, geographers, teachers, anthropologists and readers from the schools and universities in the different countries such as Norway, Scotland, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Hungary, India, Argentina, California and the Philippines.
Routledge is one of the prestigious publishers in UK, US and Canada. They published a range of Geography textbooks, supplementary reading, research and reference titles in the fields of Development Studies, Human Geography, Environmental Studies and Management, Physical Geography, Tourism and Urban Studies.

The meritorious achievements of Dr. Saladar in his profession and research works is one of the examples which illustrates the global competitiveness of the ASU faculty in their own field of expertise to be an “Academic Pillar of Excellence for Sustainable Development” of the university. Dr. Saladar is not only working to put in place the Aklan State University to access on global information through Internet, he is also helping students and other faculty to put in place their research works in the international perspectives. 
A warmest congratulation to Dr. Saladar, a forester, educator, sociologist, director, information technologist who, not only excel in his fields in the local scenario but also a competitive educator in the global perspective. The ASU-ICT Staff and Technical Working Group and the ASU Community is proud of you.