EXACTLY today marks the end of my brief foray in government service. It was on Aug. 11, 2021 that my appointment paper as the Department of Agriculture (DA) undersecretary for Policy and Planning was signed and released by Malacañang. I had the privilege of serving the country for just over 10 months.

But to be more precise, I had actually been in government service for a good part of my professional life. I spent around a quarter of a century being a researcher and a faculty member of the University of the Philippines (UP), first in Diliman and then transferred to UP Los Baños where the bulk of my academic service was rendered. But UP is not your typical government agency. In UP, one is protected from the byzantine-type of intrigues that permeate ordinary government institutions because of our sacrosanct academic freedom. Also, we are surrounded by intelligent and technically competent workers and colleagues whose idea of excellence is being able to publish in scholarly journals or publications. But most of all, university funds mostly go to paying the salaries of faculty and staff and hence, there is little budget left for us to engage in squabbles.

Thus, it was a totally different experience for me to work in a regular government institution, especially an implementing agency like the DA wherein a substantial portion of its budget goes to operating expenses, mainly delivery of services to our farmers and fishers.

Limited time

It was clear from the very start that when I accepted the invitation to become a senior DA official, I had limited time to institute institutional changes. The most that I can do is work with the current system and with the staff already chosen by my successive predecessors. I know that the best use of my time is to focus on key reform areas that will have long-lasting impacts on the status of our agri-fishery sector. And being the foremost official on policy and planning, I understand that my effort should focus on policy reforms and the subsequent planning process that they entail to successfully realize the objectives of the enunciated policies. I had to use every iota and ounce of my readings, learnings and analyses of agricultural development issues that I accumulated for almost four decades to provide the correct analyses of the policies I addressed.

I am happy and proud that my 10-month stay in the department was a fruitful one.

Key reform areas

A quick summary of my accomplishments, with the assistance of my consultants and able staff, are the following:

1) A scientific and empirically-based defense of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which as early as the mid-1980s economists and agricultural economists had been advocating for adoption. We have published many articles on this issue culminating in the publication of a book (title is Philippine Rice Tariffication Law, a Mid-term Review: Challenges and Opportunities) that we launched last June 23;

2) Assisted in crafting the Livestock Industry Competitiveness bill wherein its foremost feature is that the reduced tariff from imported livestock and corn should be plowed back to their development to improve their efficiency and competitiveness. We also published a book on this titled The Economic Impacts of the Reduction of the Tariff Rate on Non-Asean Yellow Corn Imports, utilizing a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to measure the benefits of the policy reform measure;

3) Completed the National Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization and Industrialization Plan (Nafmip), the successor plan to the Agriculture and Fishery Modernization Plan, which was formulated 20 years ago. Nafmip is in its publication stage;

4) Completed the Philippine Rice Industry Roadmap that provides the blueprint for the development of the Philippine rice sector after the passage of the RTL. Continuing consultations are being done for this plan before its publication;

5) We have written policy briefs (but unpublished) on the corn, livestock and poultry sector, fishery sector, sugar industry and coconut sector (in progress). We made presentations to the Economic Development Cabinet Cluster on these policy briefs (excluding coconut), which were appreciated by our economic managers;

6) Spearheaded the formulation of the new rice classification system, in collaboration with the Philippines Statistics Authority and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, to protect rice consumers, better measure the inflation rate and show the benefits of the RTL to the overall economy;

7) Quarterbacked the comprehensive review of the Philippine agriculture insurance system, with focus on the operations of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. to expand its coverage and ensure its financial viability;

8) Coordinated the World Bank’s technical support in the formulation of the Registry System for the Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA or the Farmers and Fishers Registry) to better identify eligible farmers and fishers who should receive assistance from the government. If completed, the registry can introduce a no-contact provision of assistance through deposit of cash to the accounts of eligible farmers and fishers thereby lessening administrative cost and preventing corruption;

9) Coordinated with the World Bank on analyzing the impact of the implementation of the MandanasGarcia ruling on the budget of the department and the agricultural sector in general;

10) Provided leadership on the successful negotiation of an $800-million loan titled “Competitive and Inclusive Agriculture Program” with ADB and another $250 million for Climate resiliency also from ADB. However, the funds were used mostly for government budgetary support to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic;

11) Attempted to centralize and store policy related data from various agencies of the DA and government data sources. Unfortunately, the hardware and software were not provided to make this effort successful;

12) Recently, participated in the relatively successful negotiations of the World Trade Organization on agriculture and fishery subsidies during its 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland;

13) Assisted in reviewing the various commodity industry roadmaps; and

14) Led the writing of the DA Transition Report.

Productive engagement

Undeniably, my 10-month stint in the DA was a physically, intellectually and emotionally taxing experience. There were more than a hundred emails to respond to every day. Each day an average of four to five meetings had to be attended to, on top of the unscheduled consultations of my staff to give them proper guidance. Family matters had to be sacrificed over the call of duty.

But there is no regret on my part. I gave the job my best shot. With my dignity and integrity intact, I now pass the baton to my successor and wish him/her the very best knowing the humongous challenges the agricultural sector is facing today.

I look forward to more time playing with my apo (grandchildren), golf and tennis, in that order!