President Duterte’s former campaign spokesperson has been appointed as new chief of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).
Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol made the announcement in a Facebook post yesterday. Peter Laviña will be replacing Engr. Florencio Padernal.
“Laviña’s appointment as the new NIA head is a welcome relief for the Department of Agriculture (DA), especially since the agency, while officially under the Office of the President, is one of the most important agencies supporting Philippine agriculture,” Piñol said.
“With Laviña at the helm of NIA, I expect a smoother coordination between the Department of Agriculture and the water agency of the government, especially in the area of the scheduling of the release of irrigation water for the rice farms which had been a problematic issue for so long,” he added.
Laviña’s wife, Evelyn, was earlier appointed as DA Undersecretary for Agribusiness and High Value Crops.
(Ellalyn de Vera)
