“Let me just make this very clear. The President has already agreed. Secretary [Leoncio] Evasco has already agreed -- that NIA should be brought back to the Department of Agriculture,” said Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol in an interview with reporters late Tuesday.
Mr. Piñol earlier said he has submitted to the President a memorandum seeking the transfer of the NIA, the National Food Authority (NFA), the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, and the Philippine Coconut Authority for “effective operations” of the DA.
The four agencies currently fall under the Office of the President after an executive order issued in 2014 by then President Benigno S. C. Aquino III ordered a revamp at the Agriculture department which at the time faced charges of corruption and cronyism.
“Pero sinabi ko na sa kanila... sinabi ko na kay presidente [But I already told them, I already told the president], ‘Mr. President, NIA is a really a vital component of Philippine agriculture,’” Mr. Piñol said.
The Agriculture chief meanwhile said he “can live without NFA,” given what he described as the grains agency’s “failure to stabilise the price” of rice.
Mr. Piñol has hammered out a plan to attain the government’s rice self-sufficiency target, which effectively would mean the NFA will have a lesser role.
Mr. Piñol earlier said he has submitted to the President a memorandum seeking the transfer of the NIA, the National Food Authority (NFA), the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, and the Philippine Coconut Authority for “effective operations” of the DA.
The four agencies currently fall under the Office of the President after an executive order issued in 2014 by then President Benigno S. C. Aquino III ordered a revamp at the Agriculture department which at the time faced charges of corruption and cronyism.
“Pero sinabi ko na sa kanila... sinabi ko na kay presidente [But I already told them, I already told the president], ‘Mr. President, NIA is a really a vital component of Philippine agriculture,’” Mr. Piñol said.
The Agriculture chief meanwhile said he “can live without NFA,” given what he described as the grains agency’s “failure to stabilise the price” of rice.
Mr. Piñol has hammered out a plan to attain the government’s rice self-sufficiency target, which effectively would mean the NFA will have a lesser role.
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