Duterte considers ex-military to head DA

July 17, 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte said he is mulling to appoint a former military man as the new secretary of the Department of Agriculture ( DA) .

In an television interview early Wednesday by his friend evangelist Apollo Quiboloy, Duterte said current Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pino would be moving to the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

"Scouting around. I assume may be again a military man," Duterte said when asked who would be the incoming DA chief once Pinol transfers to MinDA.

He said it is easier to work with a former soldier.

"And they do it without a question," he said, adding that he was not giving illegal orders to his Cabinet officials.

More than half of Duterte's Cabinet members are former police or military officials. 

Pinol, who will have the same Cabinet rank in MinDA, will be the national government's point man at the newly-created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

"I have to have my man there. And Pinol is from Cotabato. He's from M'lang," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS