Photos courtesy of DA Undersecretary Fred Serrano.
Rome, Italy – For the first time in the history of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Philippines took center stage as Chair of the 40th Session which opened today in the FAO Headquarters here.
As the Philippine Secretary of Agriculture, I carried the banners of the country and presided over the six-day conference which brought together 1,100 delegates from 176 countries, including two Presidents and 82 Agriculture Ministers.
Italian President Paolo Gentiloni and Vatican State Secretary Pietro Parolin delivered the keynote speeches which folowed after I delivered my acceptance speech as Chairperson of the Conference.
It was a moment of pride for me, a farm boy who felt the pain of hunger and the hardships of poverty while growing up, to preside over a conference of world leaders who will discuss ways to feed the hungry people of the world and how to life the poor out of poverty.
I could only thank President Rody Duterte for giving me this rare opportunity of representing the country in this historic event and my family for their love and support.
Most of all, I thank God for guiding me and propping me up during the most difficult moments of my life to bring me to this event which I never imagined I would even witness, much less preside, in my wildest dreams. | via DA Sec Manny Piñol
