By Junex Doronio

MANILA — Seeing dead people included in the list of Task Force El Niño members submitted to Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel, the Office of the Ombudsman has lifted the suspension order on more than 20 National Food Authority (NFA) personnel linked to the alleged irregular sale of rice buffer stocks to favored traders.

“Ang tanong lang namin, kung listahan ng task force ng El Niño, bakit sinama ‘yung mga kawani na patay na? Ano ‘yung purpose noon? Niloloko niyo ang Secretary of Agriculture?” Ombudsman Samuel Martires said on Friday (15 March 2024) in a television interview.

He explained that the suspension order was lifted after investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman found erroneous data on the list provided to them by the Department of Agriculture (DA), which supposedly sourced the list from the NFA.

“Kung may pagkakamali sa listahan na iyan, hindi namin kasalanan iyon. Hindi ko alam kung sino nanloko sa amin (It’s not our fault if there were errors on the list. I have no idea who tried to hoodwink us),” Martires said in the Dobol B TV interview.

He disclosed that among the NFA personnel whose suspension was lifted were warehouse supervisors in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“After conducting initial investigation ng mga imbestigador namin, itong nirekomenda nila na i-lift ang preventive suspension sa mga warehouse supervisors sa Iloilo, Antique, Cabanatuan, hasta NCR. Basta mga 23 lahat ‘yun,” he said.

Martires also revealed that before the 23, they had already lifted the suspension order on one NFA employee.

The Ombudsman said the NFA claimed that they thought that the list being sought was for a list of members of the task force for El Niño.

He said they are also investigating who is behind the “erroneous” list.

(el Amigo/MNM)

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — In line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s vision to install thousands of solar-powered irrigation units to help farmers boost their harvests, Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel Jr. is eyeing to increase his department’s solar-powered irrigation budget, from P250 million this year to P50 billion in 2025.

This developed as the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) headed by Secretary Cheloy Garafil on Wednesday (13 March 2024) disclosed that the government is setting aside P17 billion for the Philippine Solar Irrigation Project this year.

“For the solar irrigation project under the General Appropriations Act, we have P250 million this year,” DA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Arnel de Mesa quipped at a forum in Manila on Wednesday.

He added that for next year’s National Expenditure Program, “The instruction of Secretary Tiu Laurel… about P50 billion will be devoted to the solar irrigation project.”

To recall, last month PBBM said the government was looking to install thousands of solar-powered irrigation units to help farmers boost their harvests.

De Mesa also said the Philippine Solar Irrigation Project was submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) “for deliberation of the ICC [Investment Coordination Committee].”

De Mesa pointed out that the use of solar-powered irrigation could save farmers around P12,000 to P15,000 per hectare.

It was gathered that Laurel had said solar-powered irrigation was among the measures identified to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

(el Amigo/MNM)

By Junex Doronio

MANILA — For five years, the Philippines can be assured of a steady supply of rice from Vietnam as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on the country’s behalf will formally sign a rice deal with Vietnam.

This was disclosed on Tuesday (16 Jan 2024) by Department of Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel saying the agreement will be forged when the Chief Executive travels to Vietnam by the end of January.

“Pagdating ng trip this coming end of January, state visit to Vietnam, mapipirmahan na. We have the working draft already. It’s almost done,” Tiu Laurel said.

He added that PBBM had instructed agriculture officials to draft a memorandum of agreement during an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Japan, Tiu Laurel said in a press conference in Malacañang.

“It guarantees that they will be supplying us rice continuously even sa calamity situations,” the Agriculture Department chief said.

It was learned that Marcos Jr. and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh first agreed on the cooperation deal on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Indonesia last year.

“Our two countries will conclude an inter-government agreement on rice trade so that our rice export to the Philippines will ensure food security in the Philippines,” the Vietnamese leader then told Marcos Jr.

He stressed: “We look forward to having a stable framework of cooperation on rice trade for a long period of at least 5 years… With that, we can ensure our production and you can also ensure imports from Vietnam.”

(el Amigo/MNM)