Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 11) — Calls for National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan to lead the Department of Agriculture (DA) are a “sound proposal,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
“Alam niya yon (He knows about it), he has heard it many times,” he said in an interview with members of the press over the weekend.Diokno then cited Balisacan’s extensive stint in the agriculture sector.The finance secretary said the NEDA chief previously served as undersecretary in the DA.“Si Arsi talaga undergrad niya is agriculture economics,” Diokno said, referring to Balisacan.Based on NEDA’s website, Balisacan was also the dean of the University of the Philippines School of Economics and director-chief executive of the Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.
