MANILA, April 22 -- Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. assured Monday that all operations within the Department of Agriculture (DA) are upbeat amid "isolated" concerns in some of its attached agencies.

Laurel's statement came following the dismissal of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Demosthenes Escoto.

A month earlier, National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Roderico Bioco was slapped a preventive suspension.

The Office of the Ombudsman dismissed Escoto after being found guilty of grave misconduct in relation to the procurement of BFAR's communications equipment in 2018 while Bioco remains under probe due to alleged improper rice sale of NFA rice buffer stock.

Despite these, Laurel said there...