“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” —Philippians 2:3-4 (KJV)
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. —1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NLT)
Has anyone ever stated that PBBM works well in agriculture, and if so, why? First off, following are quotable quotes, including that of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Listen to himself he should. I repeat, to himself (on the sixth and last quote).
“The president should reconsider his position and appoint a competent person who would take charge of the DA, end all controversies in the department, and focus on helping farmers and ensuring adequate food supply in the country…As clearly shown by the situation in the DA, it is very difficult to do all of those responsibilities and at the same time focus on the myriad of programs that must be handled by the DA Secretary.” —Sen. Risa Hontiveros,18 Aug 2022
“I can’t understand why Marcos took the job of concurrent agriculture secretary (which no other president has done) when he really hasn’t any experience in managing a huge bureaucracy nor does he have any expertise in agricultural production. Hubris, that only he alone could do the job? … Contrast his single visit to the Agriculture department to the 18 ‘social and leisure’ activities (five birthday parties) he has attended in and outside the Palace In effect, rather than things ‘moving quickly’ for the Agriculture department, these have all stopped, leaderless.” —Ex-Cabinet Secretary RigobertoTiglao Jr., 14 Oct 2022
“The president is seriously considering several people to appoint on a permanent basis or regular basis who will represent or minister the DA portfolio. But he has not yet signified to us that he is ready to announce his decision.” —Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, 23 Nov 2022
“Some sectors, Mr. ES, are urging the president because of the need for food production and food security, that he must already appoint a permanent secretary for the Department of Agriculture so the president can focus on more important other issues as leader of this country.” —Rep.Rodante Marcoleta (Sagip party-list), 23 Nov 2022
“However, all these cannot be implemented if the most important issue in the sector is not addressed. The DA lacks a leader who can supervise operations in the sector on a full-time, daily basis. President Marcos insists that being concurrent agriculture secretary will directly address problems afflicting the sector. How can he do this if he is busy with other important tasks such as national security, more so if he is often abroad selling the Philippines as an investment destination or attending to his foreign policy obligations as head of state?
“It is clear that the President cannot personally run the agriculture department 24/7. If agriculture is truly close to his heart, what he needs to do is appoint a trusted individual to helm the DA, someone personally close with a direct line to him. He can now name highly qualified allies who ran but lost in the May elections last year as the one-year ban on their appointment has lapsed.
“And his first marching order for a full-time DA secretary should be to clean up the department and its attached agencies such as the BPI of scalawags. Only then will the DA perform as it should and the agriculture sector contribute what it should to the economy.” —Philippine Daily Inquirer editorial, 22 May 2023
“Hindi, kailangan eksperto sa agrikultura. Agriculture is a very complicated subject. Hindi lang kung sino-sino basta’t magaling mag-manage. They have to understand the science… They have to understand the solution. They also have to understand the system… Unless, they’re involved in agriculture. Mayroon naman nag-retire diyan, they got heavily involved in agriculture, baka marunong na talaga sila, why not? … All the hard things, ‘yung mahirap gawin ngayon namin gagawin. Pag nagawa na namin ‘yung mga bucket list namin, natapos na namin, aalis na ako then I will give it to somebody else.” —PBBM, 20 Jan 2023
For its succinctness, the last quotable quote done four months ago is for his appropriate action (and for Bersamin’s announcement later). Or shall we say, here is the Agriculture chief reporting to the Chief Executive for his appropriate action?
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
