 In June 1987, PhilRice operations went full swing with the assumption to office of its first executive director, Dr. Santiago R. Obien.Before his appointment, Obien was president of the Mariano Marcos State University and director of the Philippine Tobacco Research and Training Center.With Dr. Obien at the helm, the executing committee was dissolved and a PhilRice-UPLB Management Committee was created to select UPLB staff members to be seconded to PhilRice as program leaders.