Authors’ Biography government’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). He is Rodelio B. Carating also involved with other projects such as the Korean-funded Asian Network on Sustainable Organic Farming Systems (ANSOFS), the FAO-funded Land Degradation Assessment (LADA), and the DENR-implemented Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Mr. Carating also manages the BSWM Homepage (http://www.bswm.da.gov. ph) and the SOILSCAPE Quarterly Technical Bulletin of the bureau. Mr. Carating is concurrently the Technical Assistant to the BSWM Director and supervises the Planning, Moni- toring and Evaluation Group which prepares the BSWM medium-term plans (2011–2016 and 2017–2022) and the structure of the BSWM Strategic Performance Management System for the semestral performance appraisal of the bureau staff. He also oversees the management of the BSWM Client Center and the BSWM Dormitory. He is a member and currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the BSWM Bids and Awards Committee. He represents the Director who is the Vice-Chair in the National Convergence Initiatives (coordination of the rural development projects of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of The Soils of the Philippines senior author Rodelio B. Ca- Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of rating is Senior Science Research Specialist at the Bureau of Agrarian Reform), and represents also the Director who is Soils and Water Management (BSWM), Elliptical Road, the alternate of Undersecretary Sigfredo R. Serrano in the Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Unlike his two co- Steering Committee of the National Mapping Resource authors who came from rural farm, the senior author grew Information Authority (NAMRIA’s) The Philippine Geo- up in Tondo, Manila. He obtained his B.S. Agriculture portal: One Nation One Map Project. Major in Soil Science degree from the University of the As for other project involvements and professional Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB) in 1978. He is assigned at affiliations, Mr. Carating is a member of the Technical the Geomatics and Soil Information Technology Division Working Group of the BSWM Agri-Pinoy Corn Program, and supervises various Geographic Information System Chairman of the Secretariat of the Philippine Conservation (GIS) studies such as those relating to land degradation Approaches and Technologies (PhilCAT) which is the local assessment, crop yield assessment using remote sensing consortium of the World Conservation Approaches and techniques, and various land resources assessment projects Technologies (WOCAT), member of the BSWM technical for delineation of Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries working group of the Philippine interagency consortium Development Zones (SAFDZ) and integration with the local that updates the Philippine National Action Plan, the R. B. Carating et al., The Soils of the Philippines, World Soils Book Series, 305 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-8682-9, Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014 306 Authors’ Biography implementation instrument of the UN Convention to Raymundo G. Galanta is Supervising Agriculturist at the Combat Desertification and Land Degradation (UNCCD). Soil Survey Division, Bureau of Soils and Water Manage- He served as the Secretary and later on as the Public ment (BSWM), Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City. He Relations Officer of the Philippine Society of Soil Science is a very experienced soil surveyor and has either been a and Technology (PSSST), 2001–2005, capping his stint by member or a team leader in several provincial soil survey serving as Secretary General and the lead personality in and classification work across the country. A native of organizing the seventh East and Southeast Asia Federation Candon, Ilocos Sur, noted for the growing of tobacco, he of Soil Science Societies (ESAFS) International Scientific finished his B.S. Agriculture major in Soils from the Conference held at the BSWM Convention Hall, 1–5 June Gregorio Araneta University Foundation in Victoneta Park, 2005. He has organized many other BSWM-hosted regional Malabon City in 1968. The university had its humble and international conferences. His most recent involvement beginning as an agricultural school at Hacarin Dairy Farm is with Global Soil Partnership—Asia Soil Science Network in Hacienda Carmelita, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan until it and the GlobalSoilMap.net East Asia Node. This book The transferred to its present location in 1947. In 2002, it was Soils of the Philippines is part of the national efforts to fully integrated with the De La Salle University System and consolidate the Philippine soil heritage data to facilitate the since then and until now, the university is known as the De country’s share in the exchange of global soil data. La Salle Araneta University. Mr. Carating has authored several scientific papers Mr. Galanta further received Diploma in Geomorpho- dealing with soil survey and soil suitability mapping, isa- logical Survey and Applied Geomorphology using aerial rithmic mapping of soil chemical properties using geosta- photography and other remote sensing techniques from the tistical techniques, the BSWM soil information system, International Institute for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences classification and mapping of Taal and Pinatubo volcanic (ITC) in Enschede, The Netherlands, in 1977. He has many ash soils, and the BSWM Soil Museum Collection for more trainings on aerial photo interpretation, remote sens- various local and international scientific conferences. ing, and multispectral image analysis for agricultural A number of his papers received the Best Paper Award in applications such as those conducted by University of the the in-house research review and in the PSSST annual Philippines Natural Science Research Center in 1979 and by meetings. His other publications are the BSWM Citizen’s the UNDP in Tokyo, Japan in 1980. Charter (2009), the BSWM Soil Survey Manual (2009), and Among the soil survey, classification, and mapping the BSWM Manual on Map Standards and Symbols for Soil projects he has participated in are those of Pangasinan and Water GIS (2010). He has just released the Philippine Integrated Area Development Project, Panay Upland Area Land Degradation Assessment Report which highlighted the Integrated Development Project, Bicol River Basin Project, major outputs of the FAO-funded technical cooperation on and the Pampanga Land Reform Priority Area. The list of land degradation that was completed in December, 2013. provincial soil survey, classification, and mapping projects He has co-authored and edited several soil and land he has been involved with are quite innumerable—Bukid- resources reports for the last two decades. non, Marinduque, Surigao del Norte, Pangasinan, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Bontoc-Mountain Province, Benguet, Ilocos Norte, La Union, North Cotabato, Maguindanao, and Raymundo G. Galanta Lanao del Norte. Of this list, seven provinces are located in the island of Mindanao making Mr. Galanta a noted and eminent authority of the soils of Mindanao. Authors’ Biography 307 He is married to the former Lourdes Salvador Santillan Ms. Bacatio is an experienced soil surveyor and she has and they have a son. After making his share of the book, been involved with the soil survey, classification, and The Soils of the Philippines, Mr. Galanta retired from mapping of the provinces of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, Nueva government service in June, 2011. He started his stint in Vizcaya, Isabela, Tarlac, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, government service in 1969; and thus, he spent 42 years of San Jose Del Monte City-Bulacan, Narra-Palawan, Quezon, his best life pursuing the survey and classification of Phil- Eastern Samar, Leyte, Marinduque, Laguna, Aurora, Negros ippine soils. The senior author is certainly honored to have Occidental, Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, and Bohol. She is cer- the distinguished Filipino field soil surveyor, Tatang Romy tainly one of the respected and well-experienced soil sur- Galanta as a co-author of this book. veyors in the Philippines, a rare and vanishing breed of professionals today. Despite her hectic and frequent out-of-town soil survey Clarita D. Bacatio schedule, Ms. Bacatio has two published papers in refereed Journal in 2005. The first one is ‘‘The Characterization of Marginal Soils of Three Techno-demo Farms in the Phil- ippines’’ co-authored with Hideo Kubotera of the National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region, Masami Nanzyo of Tohoku University, and Ichiro Yamada, JICA Team Leader at BSWM which appeared in the Pedologist Volume 49, No. 2 and published by the Japanese Society of Pedology. The second one is ‘‘Partial Rejuve- nation of the Soils in Intavas Techno-demo Farm, Bukid- non, Mindanao, Philippines by Volcanic Ash Materials’’ with the same co-authors which appeared in the Journal of Integrated Field Science, Volume 2 (JIFS, 2:19–27, 2005) and published by the Field Science Center, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University. Ms. Bacatio is active in the Philippine Society of Soil Science and Technology and was elected to the Board of Clarita Dizon Bacatio, PhD., is Supervising Agriculturist at Directors serving in various capacity from 2002 to 2009. the Soil Survey Division, Bureau of Soils and Water Ms. Bacatio has just been widowed by Florencio P. Management (BSWM), Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon Bacatio, Jr. whom they have been blessed with two sons and City. She hailed from Cabiao, Nueva Ecija, a rice-growing a daughter. She decided for an early retirement in Decem- province. Ms. Bacatio obtained her B.S. Agriculture from ber, 2013 to avail of the benefits offered by the national then Gregorio Araneta University Foundation (now De La government’s Rationalization Plan. Coming to the bureau in Salle Araneta University) in Victoneta Park, Malabon City 1974, ‘‘Claire’’ as she is fondly called by friends has in 1978, her M.Sc. Soil Survey from International Institute accumulated 38 years of wisdom and knowledge about soils of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in that she shares in this book. Enschede, The Netherlands in 1992, and her PhD. in Soil Science from the De La Salle Araneta University in 1997.