President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Friday he will appoint a permanent secretary of agriculture who is an expert in the field, stressing he wants to do the “old, hard things” at the department.

In a media interview in Switzerland before traveling back to Manila, Marcos was asked if he is considering a retired military or police general for the Department of Agriculture (DA) portfolio to instill discipline in the agency.

“Hindi, kailangan eksperto sa agrikultura. Agriculture is a very complicated subject. Hindi lang kung sino-sino basta’t magaling mag-manage. They have to understand the science… They have to understand the solution. They also have to understand the system,” Msrcos said.

“Unless, they’re involved in agriculture. Mayroon naman nag-retire diyan, they got heavily involved in agriculture, baka marunong na talaga sila, why not?” the chief executive said.

Marcos, who concurrently holds the DA portfolio, said he intends to do the old, hard things while he is in the department.

“All the hard things, ‘yung mahirap gawin ngayon namin gagawin. Pag nagawa na namin ‘yung mga bucket list namin, natapos na namin, aalis na ako then I will give it to somebody else,” Marcos said.

Marcos said previously that he has three “dreams” for the country’s agriculture sector –– sustainable livelihood for farmers, affordable food for all, and food security.

According to the President, he wants the Philippines to attain food self-sufficiency by prioritizing local production over food importation. Presidential News Desk