PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday said he is just finishing a “checklist” of things he wants to do in the agriculture department before appointing his replacement who will be able to function as a full-time secretary.
“I have a timetable for that and certain things I want to achieve before leaving the department, so hopefully we can nominate a new DA (Department of Agriculture) chief by the time I finish my checklist,” he said in a livestreamed press briefing during a visit to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna.
Mr. Marcos noted that his list of possible appointees keeps changing since names are constantly being added and removed.
The president, who took office on June 30, assumed the DA top position citing the need to urgently address the food crisis in the country.
He reiterated on Tuesday his goal to bring down the market price of rice to P20 per kilogram, and was considering price adjustments in time for Christmas.
Experts from IRRI briefed the president about the institution’s continuing initiatives on advancing rice farming technologies, crop resilience, and increasing production.
IRRI is an independent, non-profit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government. It has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa. — John Victor D. Ordoñez