Ex-DA chief, farmers’ groups back replacing Sebastian

MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Leonardo Montemayor and other farmers’ groups yesterday backed the move of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to implement a major revamp at the agency, after he replaced Undersecretary Leocardio Sebastian as undersecretary for rice industry development, the flagship program of the agency.

“It’s Secretary Laurel’s call as to who will constitute his team. Ultimately, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Regarding Usec. Leo (Sebastian), technically, I think he was not removed. He resigned or chose to retire. Although he was effectively sidelined as a mere member of the secretary’s technical advisory group,” Montemayor told The STAR.

Sebastian opted to retire effective Feb. 1, after he was replaced as undersecretary for rice industry development by officer-in-charge Roger Navarro.

Laurel issued Special Order No. 1 downgrading the position of Sebastian to a member of his technical advisory group.

For his part, Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) national manager Raul Montemayor said that it is the prerogative of Laurel to reorganize his agency.

“The DA needs a thorough assessment of its programs, new ideas and approaches and a fresh restart, because the billions being poured into agriculture in the past few years do not appear to be generating the desired effect, especially in the rice sector,” Montemayor said in a separate message to The STAR.

He noted that the DA continued its programs despite no significant outputs.

“We noticed that the DA has maintained old programs despite not proven effective. The DA tends to repeat the previous programs and ask for additional funding,” Montemayor added.

He said the DA lacks analysis on the effectiveness of current projects.

“The Department of Budget and Management keeps on funding the projects without actually determining if the program was actually a success. It prioritizes the release of funding to agencies who utilize their budget. What kind of budgeting is that?” Montemayor asked.

Farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura chairman Rosendo So maintained that the national rice program of the DA was slow under the leadership of