Villar blasts move to replace PhilMech head

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Cynthia Villar hit yesterday moves to replace the head of the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) despite what she considers as his exemplary record in implementing the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food and principal sponsor of the RTL, said PhilMech director Baldwin Jallorina has “consistently enabled the government to provide farmers with modern machineries that significantly increased their yields and sustained growth in agricultural production” under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

While saying she recognizes and respects the prerogative of President Duterte to make appointments,
Villar said she is of “humble opinion that replacing the leadership of Jallorina disregards all that has been achieved by PhilMech, which he led passionately, within a short span of time.”

“The implementation of RCEF has been doing well because of all the agencies and people, especially Dr. Jallorina, comprising the components,” Villar said in a statement.

The RTL liberalized the entry of rice. However, its tariff proceeds are earmarked under RCEF, including P5 billion annually for the distribution of farm equipment and machinery to be done by PhilMech.

Villar said PhilMech, under Jallorina, was able to accomplish 82.75 percent of their targets by distributing various farm machinery and equipment to qualified farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs).

The accomplishment translates to at least 1.35 million farmer-members of 5,314 FCAs and local government units (LGUs) benefiting in just three years of implementation from 2019 to 2021, she added.

Villar noted that under Jallorina’s watch, the rice production level rose to 19.4 million metric tons in 2020 and to 19.96 million MT in 2021—much better than the 18.814 MT in 2019.

“It is clear that this has contributed to increase in production, and has led to a significant drop in inflation because the price of rice in the market was stable,” she stressed.

She said the issue of removing Jallorina at PhilMech comes at “a crucial time” when the ban on midnight appointments is about to take effect.

She cited Article VII, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that: “Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger public safety.”

“On a grand scale, it is commonly interpreted as a prohibition against the outgoing president. But to a lesser degree, it is to be interpreted as that the department head is prevented from continuing his control over a department or agency of the government after the end of his term,” she said.

While it may be argued that this period of prohibition has not begun, Villar said “any form of appointment or transfers at this closing hour of the administration is prone to be interpreted by the public as a midnight appointment.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson meanwhile continued to push for the devolution of funds and functions to LGUs instead of centralizing them with the national government agencies even as he called for accountability of DA officials, who allegedly provided substandard and possibly overpriced equipment and machinery to farmers.

Lacson, who is running for president, cited complaints from farmers that the equipment provided to them broke down easily even if they are purportedly given to them brandnew.