Libanan hopes Marcos would also appoint full-time DMW chief
At A Glance
- After Malacañang named a full-time Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary, House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan has asked it to do the same with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan (left), President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Facebook, BBM Media Bureau)
After Malacañang named a full-time Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary, House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan has asked it to do the same with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
According to Libanan, President Marcos' designation Friday, Nov. 3 of Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. as agriculture secretary was a welcome development.
“The President’s decision to finally relinquish the post of agriculture secretary is most welcome, as he can now concentrate wholly on his job as chief executive,” Libanan said in a statement.
“We would also urge the President to name a new migrant workers secretary right away, considering that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas might escalate and put more Filipino workers in harm’s way,” said the House leader.
The DMW, together with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), should be ready to put contingency plans into action, Libanan said.
The top DMW post became vacant when Susan ‘Toots’ Ople passed away from an illness on Aug. 22. The agency is currently being run by Hans Leo Cacdac as officer-in-charge.
In a press briefing in Malacañang on Friday, Marcos said he had just inaugurated Laurel.
“I have just administered the oath of office for the new secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Francisco Laurel. And, this is because it is time that we have found somebody who understands very well the problems that agriculture is facing,” Marcos said in the briefing.
Before Laurel, Marcos had held the position of DA secretary since the start of his term on June 30, 2022.