SECRETARY Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has dismissed the possibility of a major revamp in the agencies of the Department of Agriculture (DA) despite recent decisions by the Office of the Ombudsman relieving the heads in two of its attached agencies.

Tiu Laurel earlier ordered the relief of the heads of the National Food Authority (NFA) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

"I think these are isolated incidents. The former NFA administrator's case happened early this year, while the case of [former BFAR] director [Demosthenes] Escoto happened in 2017. It's just unfortunate that the orders of the ombudsman were issued one after the other," Tiu Laurel said in a statement on Sunday.

In March 2024, a total of 141 executives and employees of the NFA, including former administrator Roderico Bioco, were preventively suspended by the ombudsman over the allegations of improper sale of rice buffer stocks.

Escoto, meanwhile, was dismissed after he was found guilty of grave misconduct in a graft case from 2018 concerning the bureau's bidding for the contract of vessel monitoring systems.

Tiu Laurel said that the order removing the former BFAR director "shouldn't have a major impact on the investigation, which should be completed in the coming weeks." Escoto was earlier tasked to head the review of the disposition of NFA rice buffer stocks in recent years.

The agriculture chief also assured that both the NFA and BFAR are in normal operations, with Larry Lacson taking on the role of acting NFA administrator and Isidro Velayo Jr. overseeing BFAR as officer in charge.

On the other hand, Tiu Laurel has also reassigned key officials of the department in a major reshuffle since his appointment as agriculture secretary in November last year.

He has designated 13 undersecretaries, with one last appointee to complete his roster of officials.

Tiu Laurel justified the number of his undersecretaries to ensure that every sector under the department was properly monitored.

He said that "DA is one of the most complicated departments in the country," covering multiple industries such as crops, fisheries, poultry and livestock, irrigation, rice, and more.

He acknowledged that initially, there may be some overlap in the responsibilities of the DA undersecretaries but emphasized that they would gradually adapt and concentrate on their specific areas over time.

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