“I am now directing the regional directors and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) to see to it that the equipment, facilities, and machinery that we give as grants must be of high-quality standards.”

That was the response of Agriculture Secretary William Dar to a Cordilleran farmer who reported about defective agricultural equipment during a farmers’ forum held on September 20, 2019 in Benguet.

Secretary Dar said, “We have to be stricter on the standards and quality of the equipment that we are giving.”

He warned the Department of Agriculture (DA) officials and employees that they will be dismissed if found guilty of corruption.

Dar also encouraged the agriculture stakeholders to write their reports about corruption. He said, “Write to us, so we can formally investigate this.” ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)