The country's largest organization of corn farmers recently expressed its support for Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. amid an apparent smear campaign aimed at one of the youngest members of the Cabinet of President Arroyo.

The Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. (PMFI) said the group believes in the "integrity and honesty of the Agriculture Secretary" and called on his detractors" to spare agriculture sector from destructive politics".

Rod Bioco, PMFI president, said many farmers believe that Lorenzo "is now the object of a well-funded vilification campaign aimed at damaging any prospects for an elective post for the secretary."

"This is lamentable because we know that Lorenzo is not eyeing any elective post in the 2004 elections," Bioco said. He added that Lorenzo "is busy with the business of improving farm productivity and farmers ' welfare".

Bioco said the vilification campaign against Lorenzo "affects the agriculture sector as a whole". This is because Lorenzo is in the midst of major agriculture sector reforms which include the introduction of new and modern technologies designed to combat hunger and poverty.

It is obvious that the introduction of new policies and technologies has not been viewed kindly by some affected business interests, Bioco added. He said farmers suspect that these adversely-affected interest groups "could be behind the funding of the vilification drive against the secretary".

Bioco called on Lorenzo "to focus on your vision for the agriculture sector and just allow our detractors to self-destruct". He said the country "cannot afford to be bothered by these petty distractions since we are already way behind in terms of agricultural productivity in Asia."

He called on other farmers groups "to close ranks behind Lorenzo so we can together protect the gains of the country achieved under his watch". Only our collective vigilance can deter political interests from gaining foothold in our sector, Bioco added.