President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will not leave the management of the Department of Agriculture to others until it is ensured that all the systems in the department are in order.
In the ambush interview in Valenzuela City this Friday, reporters asked Marcos if he has already chosen someone to be DA secretary.
This was after he appointed leaders to the Department of Health and the Department of National Defense, which were all officers-in-charge at the time.
Since being elected, Marcos placed the DA under his leadership. The president joked, he encouraged several personalities to hold the DA, but they said they prefer him to stay in that position.
“Marami. Tinatanong ko sa kanila lahat, inaantay ko mag-volunteer sila mag-Secretary, ayaw ako paalisin eh. So, hangga’t matapos,” Marcos said with a laugh.
“The truth of the matter is that we have really managed to make some very important structural changes in the Department of Agriculture, so we are working on that one by one,” he explained.
Pres. Marcos has yet to leave Department of Agriculture
The Chief Executive added that he wants to first address the problems in food supply and food prices during the pandemic, including the adjustment of the country’s food production.
“The problem had been was during the beginning of this year, naging crisis lahat ng food supply, food prices, lahat, fertilizer prices, etc. Kaya napakalaking bagay nitong donation na binigay sa atin ng China. ‘Yun, we were just trying to put up emergency measures para naman mabigyan natin ng kaunting tulong at suporta ang ating magsasaka,” explained Marcos.
“Ngayon, more or less the prices of agriculture commodities are beginning, they have not yet been stabilized, are beginning to stabilize. Now, we are going to make the structural changes that are important to increase production, to ensure the food supply of the Philippines, not only rice but also pork, also fisheries, also livestock, so ‘yan ang ating mga ginagawa ngayon para naman hindi na tayo umabot sa krisis, sa sitwasyon, kagaya ng nadatnan natin after the pandemic,” he added.
Marcos said that he wanted to make sure that the livelihood of the farmers would be stable, the food supply would be stable, and the cost of the products would be affordable.
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