MANILA -- Streamlining procedures at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) will be among topics to be discussed during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon, a Palace official said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles bared these, moments before the scheduled Cabinet meeting at 4 p.m.
“Among other topics, the focus of our meeting will be how to streamline the procedures in DAR, how to alleviate the lives of farmers and fisherfolk, how to provide small farmers and fisherfolk better access to credit and loan facilities,” Nograles told reporters in a message.
Nograles said that access to credit and loan facilities; how to improve the agricultural productivity while making the programs more inclusive, and allowing small farmers and fisherfolk to play a bigger part in nation-building will also be tackled during the Cabinet meeting.
This Cabinet meeting takes place after Duterte, last month, threatened to fire DAR officials and personnel if they continue to process slow land conversions papers.
Duterte earlier expressed frustration on how it took some officials and personnel two years to resolve land conversion cases when it should only take a few months.
“If it takes you two years to process a paper, a conversion there, you are up to corruption. I told them one month,” Duterte said, in a speech during the annual assembly of the Provincial Union of Leaders Against Illegality (PULI) in Lucena City on January 23.
Aside from topics of agriculture and the farm sector, Nograles said that the Philippine System Identification (PhilSys) and the immunization program of the Department of Health (DOH) are also up for discussion.
“(We) will also discuss the National ID system. And the immunization program of DOH,” Nograles said.
In August 2018, Duterte signed into law RA 11055 creating PhilSys or National ID which serves as a single official identification card for all citizens and foreign residents in the country.
Duterte earlier said the PhilSys will help promote the efficient delivery of services and lessen corruption and red tape in the government.
“This will not just enhance administrative governance but reduce corruption, curtail bureaucratic red tape, and promote the ease of doing business, but also avert fraudulent transactions, strengthen financial inclusion, and create a more secure environment for our people,” Duterte said.
On Jan. 29, Duterte allayed fears against government’s immunization programs amid the Dengvaxia, scare which gave parents second thoughts about getting their children vaccinated for other infectious diseases.
Fears over the controversial anti-dengue vaccine rose after French vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur issued a global advisory, warning of the risks of administering Dengvaxia to persons with no history of dengue in 2017.
“Do not be lulled and be complacent about it because infants really need it. But if you don’t like Dengvaxia, it’s okay,” Duterte said in a speech in Panghulo, Malabon City.
Duterte assured that the government had sufficient supply of vaccines for diseases such as polio, measles, and pneumonia among others.
“We don’t have a shortage of vaccines -- because it is good and it is for the health of the person,” he added.
The Department of Health recently confirmed that there is a measles outbreak in Metro Manila following the rise in the number of cases last month. (PNA)
