Kiko eyed as agri adviser

MANILA, Philippines - Former senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, just like rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson, might finally join the official family of President Aquino as adviser on specific sectors in the agriculture industry, a reliable source revealed over the weekend.

The appointment papers of Pangilinan, husband of popular actress Sharon Cuneta and also an ally of Aquino in the ruling Liberal Party, are for presidential adviser with Cabinet rank.

Another Palace insider disclosed that one definite agency that will be placed under Pangilinan’s jurisdiction is the National Food Authority (NFA) where allegations of corruption have been raised against Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Alcala’s former chief of staff when he was still a congressman from Quezon province, Orlan Calayag is now head of the NFA.

Another DA-attached agency that might be placed under Pangilinan’s watch, according to the source, is the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) since Aquino has continued to express dismay over the agency’s performance despite his decision to remove former administrator Antonio Nangel in 2013.

Pangilinan will join the group of presidential advisers like Lacson (reconstruction and rehabitation), Nereus Acosta (climate change), Teresita Deles (peace process) and Edwin Lacierda (spokesman), among others.

Aquino told Palace reporters in October 2013 that family matters might have forced Pangilinan to forgo a position offered him in government.

He made the hint during the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali, Indonesia.

“Perhaps he was kind of shy that after having so many meetings discussing exactly where he feels he can fit in, then all of a sudden there is a need in the family and he has two children who are quite young,” he related to newsmen.

Pangilinan discussed with Aquino certain functions in the Department of Agriculture that he wanted to help improve on, but family matters might have made him reluctant to return to government service.

“Perhaps he was told: Your daddy will no longer be as busy, and he will not be running (in the 2013 elections), and that he will not be attending to this and to that,” he said in an interview at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa in Bali.

Aquino said he accepted Pangilinan’s explanation “at face value” and respected his decision.

He said he talked to Pangilinan sometime either in August or September 2013 to check if indeed he is still interested in joining government, because “somebody told me that he needed to spend quality time with his family.”

Aquino had confirmed in March 2013 that both Lacson and Pangilinan would definitely be joining the executive department as soon as their terms in the Senate expire on June 30, 2013.

“Kiko has several aspects of the agricultural sector that he wants to concentrate on. He has already discussed about his ideas with Secretary Alcala and we will try to maximize his involvement to the benefit of the agricultural sector,” he said.