Ex-military official may be new agri chief – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte has announced that he might appoint a former military official to replace Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who is on his way to head the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa).

“I’m scouting around. Maybe again a military man kasi madali mag-utos ng trabaho and they do it without question,” Duterte said when asked about Piñol’s possible replacement during an interview early Wednesday morning over Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s television program.

Duterte earlier announced that Piñol will serve as his point man to help the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a region created as a result of the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

READ: Duterte confirms Agri chief’s move to BARMM

According to the President, he wants to speed up the devolution of all national government agencies in the region because he finds the process too slow.

“Ang problema ako kasi wala akong tao in BARMM. There is nobody on my side talking to the BARMM to make necessary arrangements for this entity to grow. It is an agricultural country and Piñol is a farmer who is once a governor and he was born there and he’s good, he’s really very good,” Duterte explained.

Duterte has been criticized for appointing former military men to his Cabinet.

He, however, said that with military men as Cabinet secretaries, his orders are carried out without question and corruption. / gsg