Francisco "Kiko" P. Tiu Laurel Jr. (born 1966 or 1967) is a Filipino businessman who has served as the 46th

secretary of agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organiz ...

since 2023. He was also the president of the Frabelle Fishing Corporation, a deep-sea fishing company operating in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to his appointment, he served as President of the Agusan Power Corporation, which operates the

Lake Mainit Lake Mainit is the fourth largest lake in the Philippines, having a surface area of . The lake is also the deepest lake in the country with maximum depth reaching . It is located in the northeastern section of Mindanao and shared between the ...

Hydro Electric Power Plant in

Agusan del Norte Agusan del Norte, officially the Province of Agusan del Norte (; Butuanon: ''Probinsya hong Agusan del Norte''; ), is a province in the Caraga region of the Philippines. Its ''de jure'' capital is the city of Cabadbaran with several government o ...

, which generates 24.9 megawatts. He also served as chairman of the World Tuna Purse Seine Organization, which aims to develop sustainable resource management for global fishing operations. He also serves as captain and commander in the Naval Affiliated Reserve Force NCR of the

Philippine Navy The Philippine Navy (PN) () is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. It has an estimated strength of 24,500 active service personnel, including the 10,300-strong Philippine Marine Corps. It operates 91 combat ...

. He also served as the honorary consul of the Consulate of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

in the Philippines.

Early life and education

Francisco "Kiko" Tiu Laurel Jr. was born to Francisco Sr. and Bella Tiu Laurel. As a teenager, Laurel was involved in the Frabelle Fishing Company, and became a full-time employee at 20, where he started in the Engineering department before moving into sales and leadership. He did not finish a college degree, saying that he had dropped out at the age of 19 to find a job that would support his first child.

Career

Frabelle Fishing Corporation

Laurel became the president of the Frabelle Fishing Corporation in 1985 and its director in 2010. The family-owned business, which was established by Laurel's parents in 1966, is engaged in a variety of business interests in the agricultural and fisheries industry, such as deep-sea fishing, aquaculture, canning, meat and seafood processing, cold-chain network, shipbuilding and repair, and power generation. Frabelle operates in the Asia-Pacific region and supplies domestically in the Philippines and internationally. Concurrently, Laurel served as President of the Confederation of the Philippine Tuna Industry from 2002 to 2006, director of the Interland Deep Sea Fishing Sector, director of the World Tuna Purse Seine Organization, and chairman of the Processing Sector of Bangus (

Milkfish The milkfish (''Chanos chanos'') is a widespread species of ray-finned fish found throughout the Indo-Pacific. It is the sole living species in the family Chanidae, and the only living member of the genus ''Chanos''. The repeating scientific na ...

) Council of the Philippines.

Political involvements

In 2022, Laurel donated to the

Partido Federal ng Pilipinas The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines, who won in the 2022 election. During the run-up to the 2022 general election, the UniTea ...

for the

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

of its nominee

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

, establishing himself as the top donor. Additionally, he made contributions of and nearly for the successful senatorial campaigns of

Migz Zubiri Juan Miguel "Migz" Fernandez Zubiri (; born April 13, 1969) is a Filipino politician serving as a Senator of the Philippines. He was the 24th President of the Senate of the Philippines, Senate President of the Philippines from July 25, 2022 t ...

and

Robin Padilla Robinhood Ferdinand Cariño Padilla (; born November 23, 1969), also known by his Muslim name Abdul Aziz, is a Filipino actor, film director, and politician serving as senator of the Philippines. He is known as the "Bad Boy" of Philippine cin ...

, respectively.

Secretary of Agriculture

In 2023, Laurel was appointed by President

. The post was previously held by Marcos himself. Before his appointment, Laurel divested his interests from his companies, following concerns of conflict of interest with the position. On May 22, 2025, Laurel, along with other cabinet secretaries, were forced by President Marcos to tender courtesy resignations from their respective posts after the President called for a cabinet overhaul in the aftermath of the May 12, 2025, midterm elections.

Personal life

Tiu Laurel was married to Francesca Carla Winebrenner, an actress known by the stage name Cheska Iñigo and a member of the board of director of Winebrenner & Iñigo Insurance Brokers, Inc. He is currently partnered with Yana, a Ukrainian. He has three children. His daughter Kei is a managing director of Frabelle Group and is married with two children as of 2018, making him a grandfather. His son Miko was an equestrian for

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

during its 2014–15 campaign.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurel, Francisco Tiu Jr. Filipino business executives Living people Secretaries of agriculture of the Philippines 21st-century Filipino businesspeople 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Year of birth missing (living people)