SOON after Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took his oath as president of the Philippines in 2022, he announced the appointments of cabinet members, except a secretary for the Department of Agriculture. He said he would be the DA’s concurrent secretary.

The agriculture sector wondered if, indeed, he had the experience or the passion to develop and promote the country’s foremost livelihood sector. Or whether it was his campaign promise to make rice sell for only P20 a kilo that made him decide to take charge?

To impress upon the nation that only he could effectively resolve the issues that hound the agriculture sector, particularly, to keep the price of rice in check, he even warned the hoarders, illegal importers, price manipulators: “Your days are numbered.”

Since then, the prices of rice, sugar and other basic commodities have spiked to unprecedented levels. And no suspected hoarder, trader, importer has been arrested.

Now comes Abono Partylist and the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) calling for the repeal of Executive Order (EO) No. 62, citing its failure to reduce rice prices as intended and the adverse effects on local consumers, but benefitting only traders and importers.

Then the Ombudsman minced no words when he named the Department of Agriculture as the most corrupt agency in the Marcos Jr. administration, at a time when prices of almost all food commodities, particularly vegetables, sugar, fish, chicken, beef and pork, etc. have “seasonally” spiraled.

For decades and for the first time, the DA, is named the most corrupt agency, not the offices of the Bureau of Customs, DPWH, LTO, LTFRB, BIR, Bureau of Immigration or PNP.

These developments only served to confirm reports of unabated racketeering, from hoarding to illegal massive importation to price manipulation of traders under the Marcos Jr. administration.

Without a doubt, this worsening stability of the food chain and supply in the country is now the albatross around the neck of PBBM. And he seems helpless to do anything about it.

Fortunately for him, the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte and the cases filed on the anomalies behind the budgeting process of the 2025 General Appropriations Act have drawn public attention away from the corruption thriving inside the Department of Agriculture, originally led by PBBM himself.

Pangasinenses should brace themselves for the worst yet to happen.

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