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On IRRI: Sen. Cynthia Villar, during the Commission on Appointments (CA) committee hearing on the ad interim appointment of Renato Umali Solidum as secretary of Science and Technology Wednesday, December 7, 2022, reminds resource persons and members of the panel that the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is not a Philippine supported organization but an international one based in the Philippines. “Actually, IRRI is being financed by foreign benefactors and the biggest one is Bill Gates and the instruction of Bill Gates is to support Africa. So, we cannot expect a lot from IRRI because it depends on who are financing the project of IRRI,” Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, explained. She said the rice agencies of the country are the Philippine Rice Research Institute attached to the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization. Villar thanked Solidum for sending her reading materials on enhancing agriculture and for the productivity of crops, fishing, livestock, poultry and diary. “I guess the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is not only for technology but also for agriculture,” she added. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)