By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
On the heels of the Department of Agriculture’s (D.A.) Management Committee (ManCom) meeting held in April, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel Jr. has called on the agency’s officials to fast-track the implementation of critical projects and ensure the actual disbursement of funds.
This directive from the Agriculture Chief is in line with the various D.A. projects across the archipelago, which include the P20 per kilo rice program, the construction of cold storage facilities, streamlining guidelines for the Daily Price Index essential to the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law, and fine-tuning proposals to align with the new procurement law.
The P20 per kilo rice program, a campaign promise fulfilled by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on May 1, is designed to make rice more accessible to Filipinos amid rising prices.
Its success was not accomplished overnight and not without its share of issues, ramping up the pressure on D.A. to deliver tangible results and maintain the momentum of the Marcos Jr. administration’s flagship program.
“We need to increase production. The blueprints we created last year were strong—but plans without execution are nothing. Now, we act—with urgency, with discipline, and with results that can be seen and felt,” the Agriculture czar declared.
Beyond his call for urgency, Secretary Tiu Laurel focused on strengthening the department’s internal performance evaluation system.
“I will closely monitor the performance of our operating units through the performance appreciation system,” he said, ensuring the department’s work aligns with its broader goal of improving the agriculture sector.
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