On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte appoints two individuals who had been involved in his campaign to key government posts.
According to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Duterte’s campaign spokesman, Peter Tiu Laviña, was named administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA). In addition, the president’s supporter, Billy Andal, has also been appointed as administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).
Piñol is expecting to have a smoother coordination between his agency and the NIA, most particularly on the concern of scheduling the release of irrigation water for the rice farms.
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In his Facebook post, Piñol expressed, “Laviña’s appointment as the new NIA head is a welcome relief for the Department of Agriculture especially since the agency, while officially under the Office of the President, is one of the most important agencies supporting Philippine agriculture.”
Laviña was designated as deputy secretary to the Cabinet before being appointed as NIA chief. Also, his wife Evelyn is the acting Agriculture undersecretary as a part of the Duterte administration.
Czar Sulaik, a Maguindanao engineer and the one recommened by Piñol to become NIA administrator, shall serve as the deputy administrator for operations of the water agency.
Piñol disclosed, “A hesitant candidate for the top NIA post, he agreed to settle for the position of deputy administrator for operations after I informed him of President Duterte’s choice of Laviña as NIA administrator.”
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During Piñol’s reign as governor of North Cotabato, Sulaik had been the provincial irrigation officer in the province.
On the other hand, Andal’s appointment papers to serve as the PCA administrator was signed last November 8.
He was the chairman of the President Rodrigo Duterte Volunteer Foundation which was a group that helped campaign for the Duterte during the 2016 polls.
Source: (philstar.com)
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