DA chiefs form powerhouse group

Breaking political barriers, former agriculture secretaries, including present secretary Edgardo Angara have decided to band together and create a group that will find ways of improving the country's agriculture sector.

The initial meeting to create the Citizens Committee for Agriculture Competitiveness (CCAC) was attended by Carlos Dominguez, Senen Bacani, Roberto Sebastian, Salvador Escudero III, and Angara who hosted the meeting. Former House Speaker Ramon Mitra initially signified his intention to attend but was unable to make it.

The meeting held at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati, was also attended by DA undersecretaries Cesar Drilon, Jr. and Domingo F. Panganiban, and assistant secretary Theresa Capellan. Also present were NAFC executive director Valerio Kalaw and his deputy, J.B. Jovy Bernabe.

The CCAC shall serve as a unique forum for disseminating pro-active farming strategies and policies, and an avenue for sharing the experiences of past secretaries with the current one, said Bruce Tolentino, a former undersecretary of agriculture.

The civilian "superbody" shall be chaired by the most senior former secretary while an executive director shall head the secretariat and manage programs and activities. Initially, CCAC will operate as one of NAFC's sectoral committees but eventually, it shall be organized as a non-stock, non-profit foundation.

Dominguez welcomed CCAC as an opportunity to be able to assist the Estrada administration carry out its aspirations for the farm and fishery sector. He emphasized that the agriculture department is one of the less politicized government agencies with officials helping each other across administrations.

Bacani advised Angara to ensure success in rice production and focus on strategic activities to maximize the limited budget. He equated success in rice production to a high success rating for the department. However, he did not discount the importance of other commodities. He also recommended centralizing research and development and having more technical specialists in DA.

Sebastian also called for successful rice and corn production, more focus on irrigation, and greater private sector collaborations specially in crops other grains. Mindanao, he added, should be developed and investments poured in, as this can be the nation's food security basket.

For his part, two-time secretary Escudero expressed strong support for the CCAC saying it should facilitate better communication with other sectors of society, particularly Congress, and farmers and fishermen in the countryside.

In response, Angara hailed the meeting as an educational and learning process. He added that he and present team of agriculture officials will have unprecedented access to the collective and individuals experience and wisdom of the past secretaries.