Jokes no ‘volunteers’ to take over job, vows to pursue structural reforms
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday there are no takers for the job of leading the Department of Agriculture, and the people he asked to assume the post don’t want him to give up the reins.
Mr. Marcos, who has been sitting concurrently as Agriculture secretary since he assumed the presidency last year, joked that he has already asked people to volunteer for the post, but they said they did not want him to leave the department.
In receiving a sizable donation of urea fertilizer from China, the President repeated his promise of not stepping down from the DA until key structural changes are in place to ensure food security.
“I have asked many, I asked them, I am just waiting for someone to volunteer themselves to take the post as secretary, they don’t want me to leave,” Mr. Marcos said.
The President said the country has undergone a crisis in food supply and prices and said he wants to address these first, especially food production.
“At the beginning of this year, we had problems with food supply, prices, everything—and fertilizer prices,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
After a turnover ceremony in which the Chinese government donated some 20,000 metric tons of urea fertilizer worth about P782.68 million, the President said the donation was a big deal.
“You know, the truth of the matter is…we have really managed to make some very important structural changes in the Department of Agriculture. We are going through them one by one… So this donation given to us by China is a very big thing,” President Marcos said.
Farmers’ groups and industry experts have been receptive to the Chief Executive taking the DA portfolio, while militant groups have frowned on his continued leadership of the department, one year into his tenure.
The Federation of Free Farmers and the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) have welcomed Mr. Marcos at the reins of the DA, saying last year only the President could “jumpstart the gargantuan task of rehabilitating local agriculture from the carnage created by those at the helm of the department these past years.”
The Pamalakaya Pilipinas (Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines), however, said it doubts whether Mr. Marcos can solve the problems of the agri-fisheries sector.
The President said he wants the Agriculture Department to have efficient systems in place to ensure food security before stepping down from the agency.
This would mean it could guarantee the supply of food, make sure that prices are affordable, and see to it that farmers make a good living.
“Until we achieve that, I suppose you will just have to put up with me as DA secretary,” he added.
Mr. Marcos said as concurrent Agriculture secretary, he can put in place emergency measures to support and assist farmers.
Last August, Mr. Marcos said sustainable livelihood for farmers, food security, and affordable food for all are his three “dreams” for the country’s agriculture sector.
In November last year, the President also said it would take some time before he finally gives up the DA portfolio, as the list of candidates to replace him “keeps changing.”
In March this year, Mr. Marcos said he prefers to appoint a successor who is an expert in the field of agriculture.
