Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr’s appointment as agri chief gets CA panel’s nod

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. (Photo from the Facebook page of the Department of Agriculture)

MANILA, Philippines — The agriculture panel of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday approved the ad interim appointment of Department of Agriculture (DA) chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.

The panel’s recommendation would now be up for adoption or rejection by the Senate plenary, which is anticipated to convene also this Tuesday.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Laurel as Agriculture Secretary on November 3. Before his appointment, Laurel served as president of Frabelle Fishing Corp., one of the top fishing companies in the Asia-Pacific region; hence, a peasant group questioned his nomination as DA chief.

In defense of his appointment of Laurel, Marcos previously said it is high time for the Philippines to “have somebody who understands very well the problems that agriculture is facing.”

Laurel was Marcos’ childhood friend and presidential campaign contributor.

Marcos concurrently served as Agriculture Secretary for 16 months before naming Laurel to the post.