AGRICULTURE SECRETARY Emmanuel F. Piñol has defended President Rodrigo R. Duterte from Albay Representative Edcel C. Lagman’s negative assessment of the administration’s first year. “I was deeply bothered and hurt by the statement issued by Albay Congressman Edcel Lagman, in assessing the first year performance of the Duterte Administration, that President Duterte has done nothing good for the country,” Mr. Piñol said in a Facebook post. “The statement of Congressman Lagman was not only an affront on the President but also a total and cruel disregard of the efforts of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to help his constituents,” he added, noting that the lawmaker had even joined in one of DA’s field visits for the distribution of various interventions to farmers. Mr. Lagman has been a staunch critic of the administration, especially on the alleged extrajudicial killings resulting from the government’s war against drugs. — Janina C. Lim

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