Agri chief urges dep’t to ‘adapt to changing times’ amid COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Agriculture Secretary William Dar urged his officials and staff to continue innovating and adapting to the current state of the nation to better serve farmers, fishers, and other clients amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Dar said that Department of Agriculture should not be stagnant in its operations and continue to keep up with the changing times.

“We must re-think the way we do things at the Department, adapting to the changing times, with a renewed sense of commitment and urgency to remain relevant, responsive, and effective,” said Dar during DA’s 2020 mid-year assessment on Monday.

“So much is expected of us and of the agri-fishery sector, in general, amid the immense challenges that we continue to face. And we should not lose sight of our vision of a food-secure and resilient nation, with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk,” he added.

Food supply has been steady in the Philippines and Dar said that although the demand has been met, a stronger monitoring system is still needed to better assess the situation.

DA also sought for a P284.4 billion budget for 2021, far more than the P79.9 worth it had in 2020, to be able to respond to the effects of the pandemic.

“We recognize that all these must be supported by reinforced monitoring and evaluation, and policy and planning capacities to put in place a robust and effective system. Such will help guarantee the quality of our services, timeliness of their delivery, and more accurate measurement of outcomes of our interventions,” said Dar.

JE