Piñol wants out of DA
Credit to Author: RALPH VILLANUEVA| Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:13:41 +0000
AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to get him out of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and transfer him to another agency, senator-elect Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said on Thursday.
Go told reporters at the sidelines of his oath-taking ceremony in Malacañang that Piñol emailed a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday evening.
“With the best interest of the Department of Agriculture and its stakeholders, may I request that I be relieved from my present position as Secretary of Agriculture and reassigned to whichever agency you believe I will be effective, including the Mindanao Development Authority or MinDA,” Piñol said in the letter.
“He thinks the President does not trust him anymore. He is willing to give up the position,” Go said.
“Maybe he heard a lot. And maybe [it is] part of continuing assessment and evaluation of different departments,” he added.
He said Piñol suggested three agriculture executives as his replacement — Undersecretaries Waldo Carpio, Ariel Cayanan and Francisco Villano.
The DA chief asked a transition period of one month for an orderly turnover of projects and programs.
Go said Duterte has yet to act on Piñol’s letter.
“If Piñol will be placed in MinDA, that means he still trusts him,” he added.
Piñol was appointed as secretary of the Department of Agriculture in 2016.
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