For Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda, the next Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary will be the "most important part of the country’s economic team".

Salceda, the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, made this argument in light of the looming food and nutrition crisis, which would definitely affect millions of poor Filipinos.

"We really need to ensure access to cheap food. In the short-run, we won’t be able to avoid imports until we are able to produce cheaply. But we will also need to supplement our domestic production of the usual staple crops with nutritional buffers such as camote, cassava, small-scale poultry and eggs, and easy-to-produce vegetables,” he said.

“While supporting rice is good, rice as a foodstuff is extremely lacking in nutritional content. So, it won’t meet what our workforce and children need to be more productive participants in the economy,” noted the economist-solon.

“That’s why I said the next agri chief pick will be essential. I think given our current context, he or she will be the most important part of the country’s economic team," Reckoned Salceda.

President-elect Bongbong Marcos is slowly but surely building his Cabinet roster ahead of his inauguration on June 30. However, he has yet to name his DA chief.

Salceda cited results of a recent survey, which showed that some 100,000 new families experienced involuntary hunger during the first quarter of 2022, amid increasing prices of basic commodities.

"We will have to support our main food system, but also encourage small-scale and local food production, through initiatives such as community and backyard farming, which we are already doing in my district," he said.

“Furthermore, we will need to pursue programs to boost sectors that are high in nutritional value relative to the cost, such as eggs, legumes, and rootcrops,” Salceda added.