New Year, New Hope! Sentimental DA Visit Keeps Dreams Burning

Four years and five months after I left with a heavy heart, I returned to the compound of the Department of Agriculture in Quezon City on Friday, Dec. 22, for my first official engagement with the new Secretary of Agriculture, Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
The 3-hour meeting with Sec. Laurel gave me renewed hope that my life-long advocacy for Food Self-Sufficiency for the Filipino people and the country would get a big boost under this administration.
It was actually my fourth engagement with the new Agriculture Secretary but the first three meetings were just informal briefings.
Sec. Laurel and I had known each other when I was Secretary of Agriculture and he was running his family Fishing Corporation and while we were not that close, we had respect for one another.
When it was announced by Malacañang that he would be the new Agriculture Secretary., I received a text message from him humbly asking for my help as he takes on the job.
That led to our first unofficial meetings.
The most dramatic and meaningful result of the meeting on Friday, Dec. 22, was the clear declaration from the new Secretary that under his leadership, Rice Sufficiency would mean producing more rice locally instead of relying on importation.
That Policy Statement by Sec. Laurel also covered other commodities, especially meat production where he emphasized the establishment of DA-funded but private sector managed Multiplier Farms to boost the population of both large and small ruminants.
His experience and exposure to the Global Food Supply situation give him a deeper understanding of the strategies that he needs to adopt to prepare the country for the difficult years ahead.
When the meeting ended, I felt fully refreshed and happy with the thought that somebody who has the power to make things happen shares my advocacies on Food Self-Sufficiency.
Starting today, Dec. 24, I will share with the followers of this page some of the important developments which Philippine Agriculture would undergo under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr.
#TheDreamNeverDies!
#FoodSelfSufficiency!
(Photos by Alan Jay Jacalan, DA Information Division)