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‘Why are you so in love with PITC?’: Sen. Cynthia Villar expresses exasperation over the delays in the implementation of different projects being handled by the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry. Villar, during Monday’s hybrid hearing of Finance Subcommittee J, October 18, 2021, on the proposed 2022 budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and PITC, cited her experience when she spearheaded the clean-up of Manila Bay because of the issuance of the Supreme Court mandamus. She said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was given a budget of P400 million in 2016 to buy 178 composting facilities and 25 plastic factories for the local government units along Manila Bay. When the DENR failed to complete the procurement, it gave the budget to the PITC, which up to now, has not fulfilled its commitment. “Why are you so in love with PITC? I cannot understand that. I cannot forget what happened to DENR,” Villar said, adding that many agencies have also bad experience with PITC. Villar also asked how much is the budget of TESDA for agricultural training, as she stressed that P700 million is being given to TESDA under the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund to train farmers for mechanization, inbred seed production and financial literacy; and another P200 million under the Coconut Industry Development Fund to train coconut farmers. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)