Dr. Julieta R. Roa, fondly known as Doc Yol, is a distinguished researcher and former director whose contributions have left an enduring mark on Philrootcrops and the agricultural research community. More than a leader, she has been a mentor, teacher, and mother figure to many, fostering a culture of excellence and camaraderie among her colleagues.
A visionary leader, Doc Yol started her journey in PhilRootcrops in 1987 as a Science Research Specialist to start the Socioeconomics Division, which later was fused with the extension division in the mid-90s. She became the center’s director in 2008 until 2012; cut short with her fellowship at the International Potato Center (CIP). She is known to many as the mother and founder of ESED (Extension and Socio Economics Division) in PhilRootcrops; headed the office till her retirement in July 31, 2019. During her directorship, PhilRootcrops won three coveted national awards: the Tanglaw Award from PCAARRD, and national awards on R&D, and Extension from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Aside from her being a motherly figure that shaped the very Socio-Economics division in PhilRootcrops, this versatile worker and researcher led multiregional projects across Regions 8, 5, 3, 2, 10, 11, the Cordillera, CARAGA and BARRM. These projects basically highlight the various roles that social science plays in the generation, testing and transfer of rootcrop technologies and innovation (e.g. area assessments/diagnostics, training, feasibility analysis, value chain analysis). She singled out that the early initiative of focusing the importance of integrating social science in rootcrop technology development and commercialization has been critical in RDE program and industry development. With these are the advancements of improved institutional partnerships and interdisciplinary teamwork of technical and social researchers/scientists.
Doc Yol’s influence played a critical role in strengthening and expanding Philrootcrops’ research and development (R&D) collaborations. Her efforts fostered enduring partnerships with esteemed institutions such as SEARCA (Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture), International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), PCAARRD (Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development), Centro Internacional de la Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia, Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) in Peru, the UPWARD (Users’ Perspective on Agriculture Research and Development) Network, the University of the Philippines Los Baños, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), and the Department of Agriculture's Corn-Cassava Program. Beyond international and national collaborations, she championed the crucial role of local government units (LGUs) and grassroots partners, such as cooperatives and farmers’ organizations, in root crop technology transfer and extension, ensuring that research innovations reached the communities that needed them most.
The years of dedicated public service in agriculture and development merited her the Most Outstanding Alumnus Award UP Los Banos, College of Public Affairs (2008), the Rajah Kulambu Award for most outstanding Southern Leyteño (2010), and Mt. Pangasugan Award (2021). She has been conferred as Senior Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines in 2017; a lifetime designation.
She remains an icon of ESED in PhilRootcrops’ history and a symbol of a woman with values that transcend beyond existing norms. Her role as a leader paired with everything that she has done encapsulates the true essence of what being a woman is. Advocating for being true to oneself and the development of skills, wits, mindset, and behavior, she is an inspiration to those who know her and to those who aspire to be her.
Dr. Yol is a role model and the epitome of excellence in RDE and public service. She is not just a woman. She is THE WOMAN – a woman of substance and service in science.
