Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has directed Department of Agriculture (DA) officials to expedite the implementation of critical projects and prioritize the disbursement of funds.
Tiu Laurel stressed the urgency of producing tangible results, particularly in priority areas such as the P20-per-kilo rice initiative, the construction of cold storage facilities, the rollout of the Daily Price Index under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law, and the alignment of projects with the revised procurement law.
“We must ensure that we meet our targets, especially those Congress-approved targets. But more than that, we must guarantee that the funds for these projects, at the very least, are disbursed, not just obligated,” he said.
The push for faster implementation comes amid growing public and congressional expectations for more concrete outcomes, particularly in addressing rice affordability.
The P20 rice program, one of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s flagship promises, seeks to make rice more accessible to consumers.
“We need to increase production. The blueprints we created last year were solid—but plans without execution are nothing. Now, we act with urgency, with discipline, and with results that can be seen and felt,” Tiu Laurel said.
He highlighted the need to fast-track cold storage development and ensure all projects meet new procurement rules. Othel V. Campos
He also emphasized the rollout of the Daily Price Index as key to stabilizing agricultural prices and enforcing the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage law.
Tiu Laurel also announced that he would closely monitor agency performance through the newly developed Performance Appreciation System.
The system was designed to standardize performance evaluation across the DA, initially developed by the Planning and Monitoring Service, Financial and Management Service, and Field Operations Service, with input from oversight offices.
As part of its internal drive for accountability, the DA recognized top-performing regional offices and agencies during the ManCom meeting, including Regional Field Office II, along with Regions I and III, the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards, the Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering, the Bureau of Agricultural Research, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries, the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.
