Escudero to Marcos: Pick full-time DA chief

SEN. Francis Joseph «Chiz» Escudero on Monday asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to appoint a full-time Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary so that the challenges in the agency could be addressed immediately.

Escudero pointed out the need to appoint a «competent alter ego» of the President in the DA to pursue the government's programs, including the administration's campaign against rice smuggling and hoarding.

«The first action to focus on is to appoint a permanent and full-time Agriculture secretary,» Escudero said in Filipino.

«If that [department] is really important, there must be a full-time and dedicated secretary and not just [a] part-time [one],» he said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Escudero said that while he understands the President's desire to hold the position to oversee the sector personally, there are too many issues of national concern that Marcos has to attend to as head of state.

Also, the senator reiterated his call for the government to act against rice hoarding and smuggling by exposing the names of people, not just the trading companies involved in the illegal activities, and filing the appropriate charges.

Escudero said that under Republic Act 10845 or the «Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016,» rice smuggling and hoarding are classified as economic sabotage — non-bailable offenses and carry a penalty of life imprisonment.

Tariffs cut plan assailed

Sen. Ana Theresia «Risa» Hontiveros on Monday voiced concern against the proposed reduction in rice import tariffs.

She criticized the move of the Department of Finance (DoF) to lower tariffs, supposedly to guarantee affordable rice for Filipinos.

She argued that such a move could be detrimental to the agricultural sector and, ultimately,