Agri dept to undergo major revamp

By Jennifer A. Ng
Reporter

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has recently announced that it is undertaking a major revamp of its bureaucracy by streamlining its 26 attached agencies and nine bureaus.
           
Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said the 26 agencies and nine bureaus will be grouped into two “key clusters” that will implement and monitor the programs and projects of the government.
           
“[We] have reached a consensus in a recent executive committee meeting to cluster the department’s offices into two main groups,” said Yap.
           
The DA, however, could not say how many employees or officials would lose their jobs as it is still hammering out the details of the streamlining plan.
           
Yap said one of the major reasons for the revamp is to  “maximize” the resources given to the DA as specified under the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2007.
           
“We have reached an agreement in an executive committee meeting to streamline DA operations in such a way as to optimize the use of our budget next year,” he said.
           
The DA was allotted a budget of P20 billion next year. The amount, however, does not yet include the full amount required by the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) to be allotted to the DA on top of its usual budget.
           
The revamp of the bureaucracy at the DA is in line with the directive of the President as provided for by Executive Order (EO) 366.
           
EO 366 seeks to streamline all government agencies as part of the national government’s efforts to reduce its expenditures and improve its fiscal position.
           
“A central focus of this streamlining move is to improve the management of the supply chain,” he said.
           
Initially, Yap said he would want to shift spending to “hard infrastructure” such as farm-to-market roads, irrigation and postharvest facilities from soft support programs like subsidies for fertilizers and other farm inputs.