Piñol, Lopez get CA nod

The Commission on Appointments (CA) looks up to the local government and farming experience of former North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel F. Piñol in improving the weak Philippine agriculture sector and the lives of farmers and fisherfolk throughout the country.

This came after the CA confirmed the appointment of Piñol, tagged as the gentleman farmer and a former media practitioner, as DA secretary in yesterday’s CA plenary session presided by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, concurrent CA chairman.

The CA also confirmed the appointment of Ramon Mangahas Lopez as Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary.

Former Senate President and current Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin M. Drilon seconded the motion of Rep. Abraham N. Tolentino, CA agriculture committee chairman, seeking the CA’s confirmation of Piñol.

Piñol, according to Drilon, has a hands-on experience in alleviating poverty in the countryside and in developing agriculture.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph G. Recto said the minority bloc was throwing its support for Piñol’s confirmation.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, former secretary on food security during the Aquino administration and current Senate agriculture and food committee chairman, said Piñol’s stint at the DA would go a long way as he would be bringing in his experience in local government to modernize agriculture and providing support for farmers and fisherfolk.

Pangilinan expressed hopes that the country’s agriculture sector would be modernized to catch up with Thailand which nets $18 billion annually from its exports in agricultural produce.