Two leaders of the House of Representatives on Thursday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should continue holding the portfolio as concurrent Department of Agriculture (DA) chief.
Reps. Wilfrido Mark Enverga of Quezo and Stella Quimbo of Marikina City at a news conference said the President has effectively handled long-time problems of the agency.
“I would prefer still…the President, to stay as [DA] secretary,” Enverga said in response to the clamor for Mr. Marcos to appoint a full-time DA chief.
Enverga chairs the House Committee on Agriculture and Food which has been conducting a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation on the alleged anti-competitive practices and cartel in the onion industry.
In the course of their investigation, legislators believed there was an artificial shortage of the commodity that led to high prices during the Christmas Season 2022.
Enverga said the presence of the President at the DA being at the helm of the department is crucial.
“That’s an important factor because these problems aren’t new. These are old problems. It is only now that we’re uncovering them and seeing the weaknesses of the agency,” he noted.
If anything, he said that the DA needs “step up their game” in providing the President with the proper data.
“With this issue, I think, because of the lack of data, our President is being misinformed. We hope our people in DA will step up their game also … [that] they should be proactive in properly updating our President,” Enverga said.
“So it’s just a matter of that. So if we put in the reforms, this will begin to run better,” Enverga said.
Quimbo shared Enverga’s view in support to the President being the DA head.
“We know that this cartel has been around for a long, long time. And only now are we getting to finally see the tip of the iceberg,” she said.
I feel that it’s only now that we’re able to get a handle on this problem. We wouldn’t have reached this point if not for the support of the President through the Speaker Martin [Romualdez],” Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the committee on appropriations, added.