SP ZUBIRI ON THE APPOINTMENT OF FRANCISCO TIU LAUREL JR. AS AGRI SECRETARY

I welcome the appointment of Francisco Tiu Laurel as the new Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Kiko Laurel has the management experience and the common touch to lead what is perhaps the most important agency in the country today.

I am glad that the President personally headed the Department of Agriculture for a time, and instituted a whole-of-government approach in implementing important reforms in the agricultural sector that strengthened our food security.

But it is also right that the DA now be helmed by a new Secretary who can be devoted to the agriculture sector, and not have to juggle it with other national concerns.

And now that the baton has been passed on to Secretary Laurel, I wish him well in all his endeavors.