By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — The newly appointed Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Monday said that the P20 per kilogram unit price of rice was “an inspiration but still not possible today.”
In a press briefing, Laurel said he hopes to make the rice more affordable but “it will be not easy.”

“The P20 per kilo (unit price) was an aspiration, ‘di ba? Ang problem now, we are in the 15-year high sa world market…Today that is not possible. But with ‘yung directive ni Presidente to modernize, irrigate, use the right seeds, mechanize, and all of that, maraming gagawin, we are getting ready to do our best, to try to make rice affordable na kayang-kaya ng bulsa ng mamamayan,” Laurel said.

“But of course, modernizing is not easy. So it might take a little time, but we will do it as fast as possible,” he added.

The DA chief said that lowering the price of rice would be possible, however, he did not mention the exact price.

“It is possible to lower the price. But we have to have our silos, we have to have buffer stock, we have to change some laws, I believe,” Laurel said.

Earlier, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who at the time was the DA Secretary, was confident about lowering the price of rice to P20 per kilo nationwide.

(ai/mnm)

Photo from Daily Tribune

By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — New Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. denied allegations that he was appointed to the position as “payback” of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to the fishing tycoon’s donation during PBBM’s presidential campaign in 2022.

According to a report from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Laurel was one of the top donors during the campaign.

According to reports, the fishing tycoon allegedly contributed at least P30 million during the campaign last year for PBBM.
“There is no payback. As I said, sacrifice na rin ito, it’s for the country talaga. ‘Yun lang masasabi ko,” Laurel said.

Meanwhile, the DA chief also clarified that there will be no conflict of interest since he already divested from his fishing companies.

“Basically nag-divest na ako. I have no more interests in all the companies I used to own,” he said.

“DA is a full-time job. I have no time to do anything else. Malaki itong departamento, complicated ng konti, there are 28 bureaus and GOCCs. Wala akong time to think of other things,” Laurel added.

Earlier, Marcos announced the appointment of Laurel as the new DA chief and was lauded by legislators, saying that his appointment was “timely.”

Marcos has been the DA Secretary since he assumed the presidency.

(ai/mnm)