Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr: Modernizing agriculture

Everything starts with a phone call. Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. was strolling around Makati – looking for a television set – when his phone rang. He answered.

- JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

“The President wants you to be the agriculture secretary,” the person on the other line said.

That person was his common friend with President Marcos.

Francisco, known as Kiko, stood still in the middle of the mall, forgetting about the television.

“So, what is going to be?” the friend asked. Kiko remained silent. “I could not answer immediately because a lot of things were going through my mind at the time, and honestly, I was quite scared since the task is monumental,” Tiu Laurel recalled to The STAR.

Weeks after the phone call, that friend followed up. “Kiko, the President is waiting,” the friend said.

Kiko stuttered. “Ay, ay, ay...” He was cut short. “Hey, I need an answer asap.”

“Okay, sige!” Tiu Laurel accepted. The call ended. After 20 minutes, his phone rang again. “Hello.”

This time, it was the President on the line, who has been serving as the country’s agriculture chief for a year already.

As they say, the rest was history. But for Kiko, or Frannie to his family, that rainy July afternoon was a bit of a momentous memory: he did not just find a television set but stumbled upon a higher purpose to serve.

No degree, no problem

Tiu Laurel climbed the ranks of his family’s business empire, learning the ropes of fishing – literally and figuratively – one knot at a time.

He began as a trainee in the firm’s engineering division under the wings of its vice president for engineering. From thereon, it was a merry-go-round. Tiu Laurel took up all the possible positions at Frabelle Group of Companies: from sales, logistics, purchasing, finance, accounting, audit to planning.

He was sent every month to Japan for a year to enhance his skills and capabilities.

Tiu Laurel learned engine rebuilding, refrigeration, electronics, electrical, hydraulics, ship building and repair, net manufacturing, and even food processing there.