Secretary William Dar, a vocal supporter of presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos, said he is willing to continue the “Duterte legacy” in the food sector if he can keep his position as chief of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“I don’t want to insinuate that I should be retained as the Secretary of Agriculture. What I am saying is that we are here and still want to provide service to our people. Of course, if I’m offered the position, I will gladly accept it,” Dar said in yesterday’s episode of Straight Talk, an online program of Daily Tribune.
“We will continue what we started. We already have a strategic plan, which will guide us to unlock the potential of Philippine agriculture. Let us encourage our farmers to be more competitive from their present state because we still have a lot to fix,” he added.
Dar also pointed out that he will focus on enticing the younger generation to work in agriculture.
“We have initialized many programs for the youth, including women, and even the infrastructure projects in agriculture,” he said.
Last year, the DA initiated Mentoring and Attracting Youth to Agribusiness program, a 24-week internship that aims to make entrepreneurs and future leaders out of young Filipinos.
It also launched Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs loan program offering credit of up to P500,000 to borrowers aged 18 to 30 years old. The financial assistance can be used by start-ups or agribusinesses and is payable in five years without interest.
The DA-attached Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization has also developed a program called Youth for Mechanization to attract more young people into agriculture.
Ahead of the final tally from the Commission on Elections, Dar congratulated Marcos as he headed for a landslide victory against his opponent, incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo.
“The counting is not yet over, but indicators are that the BBM presidency is in the offing. We would like to congratulate the 17th President-Elect of the Republic of the Philippines. We must unite and support (his) presidency,” Dar said in a separate press briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
“I believe that the next administration will have that political will to give the top priority for agriculture, and the budget for the sector would be double or even triple the present budget,” he added.
Marcos gained more support from the masses after disclosing in one of his campaign rallies that he plans to bring down the price of rice by around P20 to P30 per kilo by recommending a price cap on the main staple.
However, Dar said: “I surmise that the P20 per kilo rice is for not for rice. We have a present farmgate price of palay at P19 per kilo and increasing that to P20 is very viable.”
Source: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2022/05/11/agris-dar-willing-to-serve-next-cabinet/
