President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Saturday said he wants an agriculture expert and not a retired military or police official to lead the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In an interview with the media in Davos, Switzerland, Marcos rejected the idea of appointing retired uniformed officials, saying that the field is too complicated.
"Hindi lang kung sino-sino basta’t magaling mag-manage. They have to understand the science. They have to understand the solution. They also have to understand the system," he explained.
Marcos, who is the concurrent DA chief, said he would only consider appointing retired military or police officials if they are "heavily involved in agriculture."
"Mayroon naman nag-retire diyan, they got heavily involved in agriculture, baka marunong na talaga sila, why not?” he added.
The chief executive reiterated that he would leave the post once they have accomplished their bucket list.
"All the hard things, ‘yung mahirap gawin ngayon namin gagawin. Pag nagawa na namin ‘yung mga bucket list namin, natapos na namin, aalis na ako then I will give it to somebody else," he said.
Last week, Senator Risa Hontiveros renewed her call for the appointment of a full-time DA Secretary amid the soaring prices of agriculture products.
"Higit sa lahat, dapat nang magtalaga ng competent na DA Secretary. Hindi natin kailangan ng part-time secretary dahil hindi nito matutugunan ang mga full time na problema na kinakaharap natin sa agrikultura," she stressed in a statement.
