The Department of Agriculture in Quezon City (Photo from its website)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has put an end to—at least for now—the leadership standoff that has troubled operations at the National Food Authority (NFA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) for weeks.
In a memorandum, the DA advised NFA and SRA employees to maintain the “status quo” in the leadership of the two agencies.
“NFA Administrator Atty. Judy Carol L. Dansal and SRA Administrator Engr. Hermenegildo R. Serafica shall continue to hold office until their respective successors are appointed,” a memo signed by Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations and Chief-of-Staff Leocadio Sebastian read.
Per the DA’s Legal Service office, the Memorandum Circular No. 1 issued by the Palace earlier does not apply to the heads of both agencies despite being presidential appointees.
The first directive issued by President Ferdinandn Marcos Jr., who is concurrently sitting as the country’s Agriculture secretary, declared certain positions in the departments, offices, agencies, and bureaus in the executive department vacant.
The same issuance called for the designation of an officer in charge (OIC) until July 31 or until a replacement has been named.
Holdover capacity
The DA memo explained the appointments of Dansal and Serafica “are not classified as co-terminus with the appointing authority, in excess of the authorized staffing pattern, or Career Executive Service Positions.”
Dansal and Serafica were appointed in 2019 and 2017, respectively, under the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
It cited Sections 17 and 18 of Republic Act No. 10149 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, which allows the appointive director to serve in a holdover capacity until the President names a replacement.
“Any provision in the charters of each GOCC (government-owned and -controlled corporation) to the contrary notwithstanding, the term of office of each Appointive Director shall be for one (1) year, unless sooner removed for cause: Provided, however, that the Appointive Director shall continue to hold office until the successor is appointed,” the law read.
“An Appointive Director may be nominated by the GCG (Governance Commission for GOCCs) for reappointment by the President only if one obtains a performance score of above average or its equivalent or higher in the immediately preceding year of tenure as Appointive Director based on the performance criteria for Appointive Directors for the GOCC,” it added.
Separate issuances
The memo stemmed from the separate issuances of NFA and SRA officials who designated OICs in compliance with Mr. Marcos’ order.
Based on documents obtained by the Inquirer, NFA deputy administrator Raul Canon Jr. and SRA deputy administrator Ignacio Santillana were assigned as respective OICs for the two agencies.
Dansal and Serafica then promulgated separate orders invalidating the designation of Canon and Santillana as temporary heads.
The management debacle in the two agencies comes at a time when the Philippines is grappling with a looming food crisis, particularly high prices of food items such as chicken and sugar.
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