President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will lead the Department of Agriculture during the first part of his administration.
Marcos made the announcement himself during a briefing on Monday, ahead of his inauguration on June 30.
“As for agriculture, I think that the problem is severe enough that I have decided to take on the portfolio of Secretary of Agriculture, at least for now,” said Marcos. He expressed that this decision makes it evident the agricultural sector is given top priority.
“The events of the global economy are moving very quickly we have to be agile, we have to be able to respond properly, in a measured way as soon as there is a situation that needs to be addressed,” he added.
The president-elect also said that as agriculture chief he will be focusing on two areas as agriculture chief – increasing rice production and reorganizing the department’s structure.
He discussed forming a rice export cartel with Thailand and Vietnam to increase rice production in the Philippines.
He also underscored reorganizing the DA’s sub-agencies the National Food Authority, the Food Terminal Incorporated, and Kadiwa program. Marcos said that the DA and its attached agencies must be more responsive to the global situation of food supply.