Praise Maria Ressa, Raise Rappler To A Higher Form: Village Journalism!

Antihero Allan M is out in the Internet campaigning to get people’s support for the Swedish group to “Recall The Nobel Peace Prize Of Maria Ressa[1]” (29 October 2021, Avaaz.org). To say the least, I reject the recall petition. In fact, I want both the Nobel Committee and Maria Ressa to raise the roof for people journalism!

The article “The Nobel Peace Prize 2021[2]” (08 October 2021, The Nobel Prize) says:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace. Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia (respectively). At the same time, they are representatives of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.

Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native… Philippines.

After the Nobel announcement, Justin Hendrix interviewed Maria Ressa (18 April 2021, “Maria Ressa: On Disinformation & Democracy,” Tech Policy Press). For one thing, she accused Facebook with having “allowed leaders to manipulate people with impunity.”

My advice is, with the added prestige of its Nobel, for Rappler journalists to go from Investigative Journalism to Development Journalism, or what I call Communication for Development (ComDev), which is the exact title of my beloved blog.

Without letting go of Disinformationconcerning the whole political and social Philippines, Rappler could devote 70% of its powers into Documentation, Database & Deliveryin the wide field of agricultural growth. Pity the millions of poor farmers & fishers who need, first of all, ComDev information & data!

An Agriculturist, I’m thinking of collaborating with Rappler, Maria Ressa willing, to create a RapplerAgriculture Infobank (AI). With Rappler’s new prestige, I am sure it can attract grants for the digital project: US$1 Million from the USAID and P5 Million from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture (DA). With USAID & ACPC funding, Rappler’s AI can easily hire from the key state colleges & universities (SCUs) in the country young gatherers of scientific knowledge & farmer experiences, the collection of which are then transformed into farmer-usable bits & pieces and searchable by cellphone anytime. With Rappler as Program Manager, I will be Knowledge Guru and train the SCUs’ youth on creative journalism, virtually.

In 2003, then-ICRISAT Director General and now PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar proposed an Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA). That proposal was submitted via PhilRice, which hired me as a consultant – I wrote an original OpAPA concept book titled The Geography Of Knowledge (TGoK), 200 pages, to turn dream into reality, but nothing came out of it. Tigok!

Today, if Rappler approves my proposed Rappler’s AI, TGoK will come back to life!@517

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[1]https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/en/nobel_peace_prize_committee_recall_the_nobel_peace_prize_of_maria_ressa/?fpla

[2]https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2021/press-release/

The Oblation As The Symbol Of UP Is Correct – And It Is Wrong!

On Facebook, writer Jose Y Dalisay Jr has come out with “The Freedom Of Intelligence[1]” (published 3 years earlier, on 22 October 2018). Wikipediasays, “He has won numerous awards and prizes for fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction and screenwriting, including 16 Palanca Awards[2].”) He was UP Vice President for Public Affairs when he delivered that piece at the “39th Anniversary of Health Sciences Center Autonomy and the 36th UP Manila Day.”

I’m very glad to be here in UP Manila, which I consider to be UP’s historic home, the cradle of its spirit, of its ideals and traditions. In keeping with that spirit, I’ll speak today about the freedom to think, to speak, to study, and to teach – things which we in UP tend to take for granted, but shouldn’t, and I’ll tell you why.

I am a UP graduate, BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965, weighted average 2.36 and yes, I can vouch that at UP, we have the freedom to think, to speak, to study and to teach.

It’s no big secret that rebellion and resistance are coded into UP’s DNA, because we have always encouraged critical thinking, which in turn encourages – at least for a while, until complacency sets in – an attitude of dissidence, of anti-authoritarianism, of rejection of the status quo. That’s how knowledge happens, that’s how it begins, as every scientist since Galileo has affirmed.

At UP, Mr Dalisay says, “We have always encouraged critical thinking.” That is correct – and that’s exactly what’s wrong with UP! My alma mater encourages mostly critical thinking – when it should be encouraging mostly creative thinking. The UP Oblation offers all of himself to critical thinking!

Galileo is nobody. UP has never learned from Einstein, critical mind plus creative genius. He did not argue himself into his Theory of Relativity, E=MC² – he intuited it first. You create first so that you have something to defend. Otherwise, you defend the status quo, and you will never get out of that rut.

In the sciences, education & law, UP does not teach creativity. At UP Los Baños, they teach scientific thinking, which is logical thinking, critical thinking. They do not teach how one may arrive at a scientific theory where there was none before – they do not teach the dual genius of Einstein.

I learned my creative thinking on my own, starting in high school at my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, in the library of Rizal Junior College where I voraciously gobbled the Reader's Digest, among other digestible matters. In 1974, my Pacifica copywriter friend Orlino A Ochosa gifted me his copy of Mechanism Of Mind by Edward De Bono, published 1969 – that opened my mind to unbelievable creativity that, as the above inset text says, since 2000, I “have blogged neatly composed 7,000+ essays: 7M+ words.” Which explains my intellectual tease: “How about a Nobel Peace Prize for Non-Fiction Writer Online? Wake up, Digital Nobel!”

My unsolicited advice to my alma mater UP Los Baños: “Cultivate minds even as you cultivate soils!”@517

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[1]https://up.edu.ph/the-freedom-of-intelligence/?fbclid=IwAR1XO4CcQmTFd9G2GnuTefuMTg96TI8E7-1lXBowkAqJYk5XTeLxnZbuOoM

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Dalisay_Jr.

Hamlet: About PH Agriculture, The Group Of 5 Does Protest Too Much!

Honestly, have you or your group been paying attention to the pronouncements, policies, positions and performances of the Department of Agriculture (DA) since August 2019 when William Dar was appointed Secretary of Agriculture? Some groups do have wandering views!

In the Manila Timesof 28 October 2021, Eireene Jairee Gomezsays, “Groups Ask For Agricultural Reforms[1].” Ms Eireene lists them: Philippine Chamber of Agriculture & Food, Bayanihan sa Agrikultura, Federation of Free Farmers, Alyansya (sic) Agrikultura, and Coalition for Agriculture Modernization in the Philippines. I call them the Group of 5.

“Major industry groups,” begins Ms Eireene, “see the need for various government interventions to modernize and industrialize Philippine agriculture.” That tells me that the Group of 5 has not been paying enough attention to Mr Dar who even before he was appointed Secretary already had come out in public with his “New Thinking for Agriculture[2]” published 04 July 2019 in his Manila Times column, saying, among other things:

Here are the eight paradigms discussed in this four-part series: modernization must continue; industrialization of agriculture is key; promotion of exports is a necessity; consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms is urgent; roadmap development would be crucial; infrastructure development would be critical; higher budget and investment for Philippine agriculture are essential; and legislative support is needed.

So, about modernization & industrialization & so on & so forth, imitating Queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, I say to the Group of 5: “The laity does protest too much, methinks!”

Nonetheless, I love it that the Group of 5 says:

Agriculture can and should play a leading role in national economic recovery and, more importantly, in ensuring social and economic development for all. To achieve this, urgent policy reforms must be institutionalized and implemented with decisiveness.

If President Rodrigo Duterte would approve all those, under Servant Leader William Dar, Philippine agriculture will soon have its flowering nationwide!

In (their) position paper, the industry groups challenged the government to transform the country's agriculture sector into an engine of economic growth, a generator of jobs, a social and economic stabilizer in the countryside, and the cornerstone for the country's food security.

With superpowers granted by President Duterte and Congress, I am sure Mr Dar will prove more than equal to the task.

Agri-fisheries deserves adequate, sustained and effectively used funding. Its budget should at least be doubled; and its allocation optimized, to yield the greatest over-all benefit for the sector.

Funding is problematic, I’m sure; the DA has to beg and wait. Meanwhile, here is the latest Big Newsfrom the DA itself:

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is in the final stage of getting the approval to implement the Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe) Project worth $200 million (P10 billion) funded by the World Bank[3].

The DA’s FishCoRe project is about to receive a gargantuan budget of P10,000,000,000 (9 digits)! The foreign World Bank has Big Bucks of Confidence with this Servant Leader compared to small change from the Filipino Group of 5!@517

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[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/28/business/top-business/groups-ask-for-agricultural-reforms/1819997?fbclid=IwAR0GHEcs51tWmafURGS6ahMyldLz9xx082OImWFHgVlZZGKCOUEGSRymlPQ

[2]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/07/04/business/agribusiness/the-new-thinking-for-agriculture-4/578808

[3]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-set-to-pursue-p10-b-world-bank-funded-blue-resources-project/?fbclid=IwAR2pqQ5LLPdc4SWBj5ek6YK2yYhJsOiHFLL2MXzFmqAdzjOeYvgNx-sWNII

Fertilizer Subsidy For PH Agriculture Considered. How About Lazy Juan Farming? No Joke!

Why do millions of farmers remain poor in the Philippines as well as in the rest of Asia and Africa? Good question!

So, I Agriculturist (BSA major in Ag Edu, UP ’65) understand why the news by Jasper Y Arcalas, 25 October 2021, “DA Readies Short-, Long-Term Ways To Cut Fertilizer Prices[1]” (BusinessMirror):

The Department of Agriculture (DA)… is exploring various measures to help farmers cope with the rising prices of fertilizer(s), including a wider subsidy program as an immediate relief. It is also looking to promote organic fertilizer as a long-term solution.

That’s 2 solutions seen. Short-term – subsidize inorganic fertilizers. Long-term – substitute with organic fertilizers.

In the virtual press briefing, Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio S Sebastian says, “We have to address the high costs of fertilizers in a holistic way.” So the DA is thinking fertilizer subsidy as well as “doing something to make farmers more efficient in using fertilizer.”

Logical. But I can think of something else, the name of which sounds illogical: Juan Tamad Farming. Lazy Juan Farming. Because this farmer’s son knows PH farmers are difficult to teach! Taking the path of least resistance, they simply throwfertilizers at crops. Each one is Juan Tamad if you ask me.
(“Juan Tamad” image[2] from Deviant Art, “subsidy” image[3] from Toppr)

Mr Sebastian says the DA will train farmers on fertilizer management via its agency, Bureau of Soils & Water Management (BSWM). The BSWM will intensively promote “balanced fertilization” with organic and inorganic fertilizers.

The DA is also looking into reducing costs of farming such as by direct seeding instead of transplanting, reducing labor cost by P6,000/ha. Wow!

Nonetheless, farmers have a much cheaper choice: Trash farming, which I refer to as Juan Tamad farming. Lazy Juan farming.

I discovered mid-1960s American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner’s 2 books, Plowman’s Folly (published 1943) and Soil Development (1952), at the UP College of Agriculture (now UP Los Baños) library, and so I have been proselytizing about Faulkner’s trash farming. Tamad farming is my modified trash farming by my introducing the rotavator, which does everything the farmer needs to do to enrich his field naturally:

With your green manure crop, crop refuse and/or weeds, pass the rotavator over the field, blades cutting down to only 2-3 inches into soil surface. Thus, the rotavator will cut plant materials simultaneously with the soil into fine pieces, rather than chunks as with a disc plow, and mix soil and plant chops at the same time. Repeating the process all over your field, what results is a complete layer of soil-plant mulch that begins to decay right away!

So, I just presented you a cropping method that does not need any inorganic or organic fertilizer applied – but in fact, that tamad mulch all over your field after rotavation is actually organic matter already applied evenly on the surface of the soil that will fertilize your crops from planting to harvesting. That is lazy man’s farming.

Tamad farming is 0% human fertilizing and 100% nature enriching!@517

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[1]https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/10/25/da-readies-short-long-term-ways-to-cut-fertilizer-prices/?fbclid=IwAR0kBt8jXdbAmZK4NU3n29qhYBdwEn4-3T1A63GknFAsx1tP1G3VEtslLIM

[2]https://www.deviantart.com/jele67/art/Juan-Tamad-131369385

[3]https://www.toppr.com/guides/economics/indian-economy-1950-1990/subsidies/

Pres Duterte’s Rice Tariffication Law Is Helping DA Help Farmers Rise From Poverty!

On Facebook today, 26 October 2021, ANN has a pleasant report on PH Agriculture: “DA Chief Highlights Accomplishment Of RTL During 2nd Leg Of Financial Aid Distribution[1],” Author Not Named, DA.gov.ph). This is contrary to the usual news or views of some people on the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

So! This positive news is an answer to the negative views of contrarian citizen champions. ANN says, “Amidst opposing opinions in the past, the enactment of the (RTL) has proven to be one of the government’s best game plans to increase local production and yield, and ensure affordable and stable supply of rice.” The RTL gave rise to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) from whose huge collections the Department of Agriculture (DA) is tapping for much-needed assistances to farmers.

On Saturday, 23 October, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar handed out P5,000 unconditional cash grant each to farmers in Panabo, Davao del Norte – in Mindanao. This cash gift is the second in a series of nationwide cash distributions, the first one being held on Thursday, 21 October in Sariaya, Quezon – in Luzon.

Starting this month, more than 1.5 million Filipino rice farmers cultivating 2 ha or less will share from the P7.61 billion excess tariff collected from rice imports via the RTL. (For credit, P2.5 billion have been lent to 15,738 farmers and 115 farmers’ cooperatives via the DBP and LandBank.)

Mr Dar told farmers (my translation from Tagalog), “Many condemned the RTL for the tariff on imported rice. On that, the government is earning and which is being distributed among you.”

According to Mr Dar, based on the monitoring of PhilRice including 6,154 RCEF participants in the dry-season rice cropping from 2019 to 2020, several milestones have been achieved as of 30 September 2021:

(1)   Lower seed requirement – With quality inbred rice seeds from the DA, farmers used 64 kg/ha, which is 33% lower than 96 kg/ha used in 2019.

(2)   Higher harvest– The average palay harvest increasedby 15% metric tons (MT) or 0.56 MT/ha, to 4.22 MT/ha from 3.6 MT/ha in 2018 before the RCEF.

(3)   Higher gross income – With an average yield increaseof 560 kg/ha, farmers earned an additionalgross of at least P10,000/ha, at P19/kg dry palay.

Given those record RCEF-linkable accomplishments, ANN says in the coming 6 cropping seasons or 3 years, the DA hopes to “continue to achieve a 1.4-MT/ha increase in average rice yield, reduction of palay production cost by P3/kg to P9/kg from current P12/kg, reduction by 3-5% in post-production losses, and increase by an overall 30% in farmers’ income.”

Given that, Mr Dar says, “The current accomplishments of RTL and RCEF only (show) that we are on the right track in achieving our targets by the end of program implementation in 2025.”

In so many words, freely translated from the original Tagalog, Mr Dar said, “All Philippines is optimistic, despite the pandemic. Our agriculture will rise, and because of their industry and efficiency, our farmers are the true heroes in the villages.”@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-chief-highlights-accomplishment-of-rtl-during-2nd-leg-of-financial-aid-distribution/?fbclid=IwAR0z-rKXWCF0GT8enDd_J-vrXih_SNA1JL4fvUh_04bniHPKgzcy1qxHIh4

With ASAP Youth As Hope Of The Fatherland, In PH Agriculture Kayang-Kaya KAYA?

In farming and fisheries, will Filipino boys & girls 18-30 years old show they are the “Beautiful Hope Of My Fatherland”? (my translation of Jose Rizal's Ateneo poem “Bella Esperanza De La Patria Mia”).

ANN says Secretary of Agriculture William Dar is challenging as well as enticing “the youth and budding agriculture entrepreneurs (agripreneurs) to actively take part in agriculture and fisheries by availing of several financial and technical assistance (programs) offered by the Duterte administration through the Department of Agriculture (DA)” (Author Not Named, 02 September 2020, “DA Offers Youth, Agripreneurs Affordable Start-Up Loans[1],” DA.gov.ph). (Sorry, I saw this Facebook sharing 1 year later.)

There are 3 such assistance programs.

One of the loan programs is the “Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs” (KAYA). Knowing that the average Filipino farmer is now aging, average age 53, Mr Dar said during the recent virtual launch of the Agriculture Students Association of the Philippines (ASAP), “The KAYA targets the youth because we acknowledge that they can be key players in ensuring affordability and availability of food supply.” The target ASAP youth are 18-30 years old, and graduates of formal or non-formal schooling.

KAYA is administered by the DA via its attached Agricultural Credit and Policy Council (ACPC), which says:

KAYA aims to finance the capital requirements of start-up or existing farm or fishery businesses, offering uncollateralized loans up to P500,000 at zero interest and payable up to five years.

Aside from KAYA, the DA is promoting “Mentoring and Attracting the Youth in Agribusiness (MAYA),” a six-month internship program “aimed at developing a competent, skilled, and employment-ready young workforce.”

A third program is the “Business Incubation in Agriculture (BIAG).” (Aside: Biag is Ilocano for Life.) This is a platform by which the ACPC “assists business incubators, micro and small enterprises (MSEs), and farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) (in) their start-up operations.” (Mr Dar knows business incubation as Director General of ICRISAT for 15 years, from 2000 to 2014.)

In that ASAP launch, Mr Dar mentioned the many DA training, scholarship, and e-extension programs that the youth and agripreneurs can avail of. He said:

We need to harness the potential and strength of the youth in our journey to making Philippine agriculture modern, industrialized and competitive. (Agriculture) has now become a competition among nations. We need to increase our efforts in taking care of agriculture and we need the younger generation to take the lead.

Also during the virtual ASAP launch, Senator Francis Pangilinan supported Mr Dar’s call on the youth to engage in agriculture. Mr Pangilinan said, “The country will not attain food security if a new generation of Filipinos does not want to go into farming.”

The ASAP Youth is composed of agriculture students from 11 universities and colleges all over the country. “It is committed to promoting agriculture among the youth, highlighting the importance of farmers in national food security, and developing and enhancing the skills of its members as future leaders of the country’s agriculture industry.”

ASAP Youth, may your tribe increase!@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-offers-youth-agripreneurs-affordable-start-up-loans/?fbclid=IwAR3QGONBBnaDRNRb8O7a2i59oKby4KagOlE4p8tEqAkm8aA3ioRaZZCuC0g

What’s In A Name, That Which You Call “Palayamanan” By Any Other Name…

Wednesday, 20 October, I was looking virtually for PhilRice’s Palayamanan in Nueva Ecija; today, I found it in Cagayan Valley! They simply call it Integrated Rice-Based Farming System. In Shakespeare’s play Romeo & Juliet, Juliet asks, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Sweat here becomes sweeter.
(lower image[1] from SlideShare)

I am reading ANN’s Facebook post, “Farmer Co-Operator Testimony[2]” (Author Not Named, 18 October 2021), from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Cagayan Valley Regional Crop Protection Center Region 2 (RCPC 2). I see Palayamanan reincarnated as Rice-Based Integrated Farming System(IFS), no ifs and buts, and the farmer-cooperators of RCPC 2 are happy! So is this agriculturist!

On Facebook, Jonabelle Infante says the project “Outscaling Of Rice-Based Farming System Launched In Jones” (Isabela) was started by RCPC 2 on 27 November 2020. With funding by the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), 50 farmer-cooperators from Barangays Arub-ub and San Jose received the following: water pumps, corn & vegetable seeds, free-range chicken for egg production, organic and inorganic fertilizers, and a Trichodermafungus culture for making compost. Before this, it was noted that the majority of farmers were practicing monoculture – the growing of rice only.

The news report is of the outscaling of upland rice-based farming systems in Jones, Isabela, one of 16 outscaling projects funded by the BAR in support of the Plant, Plant, Plant Program of the DA amid the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

The seeds distributed in Jones included hybrid corn for cropping December to March, upland rice for June to October, open-pollinated vegetables (such as string beans, eggplant and pepper) for year-round planting – and banana. The farmers’ trainings included the raising of free-range chicken, growing of straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea). making compost with the activator Trichoderma, as well as keeping records.

Ms Jonabelle says:

Regional Technical Director for Research and (Regulations) Rose Mary G Aquino reminded the farmer-cooperators that the project inputs (were) just instruments for them to achieve success and challenged them to encourage other farmers to practice the technologies of the project.

I see that Ms Mary Rose makes an excellent point: The success of the Jones farmers with the IFS depended mainly on their cooperation and not the project inputs, which have to be used properly.

Jones Mayor Leticia Sebastian reminded the farmers to share with other farmers the water pumps and encouraged them to take good care of those.

The farmers gave thanks to the RCPC 2 project. I am translating freely: Kennedy P Mangaoilsaid, “I am lucky that among the many farmers in our barangay, I was chosen as a project beneficiary.” Angelito Tangonansaid, “We thank DA Region 2 and BAR for bringing the project to our place. Even if the project has not been completed, already we can see the great benefits coming from it.” Jones Curammeng“pledged to share the technologies he learned from the project.”

My agriculturist congratulations to the BAR and staff of RCPC in Cagayan Valley!@517

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[1]https://www.slideshare.net/lizelledatingaling/region-2-cagayan-valley

[2]https://www.facebook.com/DACagayanValley/posts/2958341137814259

PH Presidential Campaign – Niggardly Clever, Narrowly Critical, Negatively Creative!

“Marcos not a hero!” Ha! If you ask me today, none of the 5 leading PH presidential candidates shows half Marcos’ genius. When he was bad, he was very bad; when he was good, he was the best!

He being resurrected in this election, I want to write the constructive story of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos– the destructive story being proudly proclaimed as definitive of the Marcos Legacy, shame on those narrow-minded historians! Not to mention like-minded negative-thinking people, including award-winning journalists and their ilks. They refuse to acknowledge Marcos’ accomplishments!
(Marcos image[1] from Britannica.com, negative-positive image[2] from Shutterstock.com)

Marcos was a full-blooded Ilocano (FBI), his parents being from Ilocos Norte, and so am I an FBI, my grandfather from Rosario, La Union. Ania’t makunayo?

As my title says, “PH Presidential Campaign – Niggardly Clever, Narrowly Critical, Negatively Creative!” Not one of the 5 leading contenders – Ping Lacson, Bongbong Marcos, Isko Moreno, Manny Pacquiao, and Leni Robredo – is campaigning on high grounds. As a self-styled warrior writer for my country, especially for the millions of poor farmers and fishers, I want to contribute to the insightful exchanges with my critical and creative talents. Now then:

I declare a different Marcos book is called for! Critically fact-filled, creatively written – at 81, I am the senior one-man-band (OMB) to produce it.

If anyone will fund me, a digital OMB – writer, editor, photographer, desktop publisher – I will produce a fact-filled & smart book in 100 days, publish February 2022. Minimum: sangaribu nga ribu.

The book, of 500 pages, will be on the positive contributions of Marcos to Philippine progress in culture and community welfare. The book will stand by itself, an illuminating informative throve as well as an inspiring intellectual thrust, neither attempted by any historian Filipino or foreign.

Why a new Marcos book? More than enough has been written on his bad side; my book will be on his best side.

Personally, I have a debt of gratitude to Marcos, even if he did not know me from Adam – it was his Presidential Decree, PD 607, signed 18 December 1974, that created the Forest Research Institute (FORI) that hired me 16 April 1975, and I became founding Editor In Chief of FORI’s 3 publications: monthly Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular magazine Habitat.FORI became popular nationally and internationally because of those media. In Habitat’s December 1980 issue appears my theory of Communication for Development (ComDev). My blog ComDev continues my love affair with millions of farmers on fields or hillsides. From print, I have gone on to digital accomplishments. (See my Profile in my blog.) Without Marcos, where would I be?

Science was one strong point of Marcos; he appreciated how powerful it is in promoting the welfare of a people. So, among other institutions, he created the National Science & Development Board (NSDB), now the Department of Science & Technology(DoST); thus, it was DoST that first harnessed PH geothermal power to generate electricity, from the Tiwi Hot Springs in Albay.

And I’ve only just begun!@517

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[1]https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-E-Marcos

[2]https://www.shutterstock.com/search/positive+negative 

LandBank Expands Agri-Agra Loans To P237 Billion In 2020 – That’s My Bank!

Why have PH banks been unable to comply with the Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009 to allocate 15% of loans to agri farmers (under Department of Agriculture) and 10% to agra farmers (under Department of Agrarian Reform)? I say this shows patent lack of interest on both sides – banks advertising availability of loans, farmers thinking of borrowing.
(financial inclusion image[1] from Coins.ph; farm image from me, taken 17 December 2016)

Joann Villanuevasays (19 October 2021, “Agri Sector Seen To Remain Resilient With More Financing Boost,” PNA.gov.ph), “Monetary authorities said banks’ compliance on the law remains below the required (levels).” As of end-June 2021, the banks’ total agri lending has complied with a miserable 9.67% (out of a min 15%), and agra lending 0.96% (min 10%).

This negative double-sided agri-agra loan truth tells me that PH banks have failed to assist PH Agriculture in their own turfs! Either the law does not have enough teeth, or banks don’t care!

Additionally, Ms Joann quotes Chief Economist of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) Michael Ricafort as saying that “the agriculture sector accounts for almost 10% of domestic output and around 25% of total employment.” I writer therefore conclude that PH banks are essentially ignoring the economic importance of the agriculture sector, but not the RCBC (inset, Michael Ricafort).

Notwithstanding, there is very good loan news from LandBank! ANN says as of December 2020, LandBank’s agri loans accounted for 76.95%, agra loans 11.52% (Author Not Named, 16 May 2021, “Landbank Supports Agri-Agra Law Amendments To Expand Loan Access For Farmers, Fishers[2],” LandBank.com). That’s actual 77% vs required 15% and 12% vs 10% required. Thus, LandBank’s loans grew from P222 Billion in 2018 to P236 Billion in 2019 to P237 Billion in 2020.

For agriculture, LandBank is doing big things and right that the other PH banks know or care little about!

ANN also says LandBank “fully supports the ongoing Senate initiative to amend the (Agri-Agra Law), which will provide farmers and fishers nationwide an expanded and easier access to responsive agricultural financing.”

How? Like documentary requirements, what has LandBank done to encourage non-literate farmer-borrowers? ANN says in 2019, LandBank “started simplifying its loan processes to make the Bank’s programs more accessible to small farmers and fishers.” The details: (1) From 3 documents, the loan application form is now only 1 page. (2) From 14 pages, promissory note is now only 1 page. You scare non-literate requiring them voluminous documents to submit for any loan!

ANN also says that in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), LandBank has assisted a total of 2,696,839 farmers and fishers nationwide as of end-March 2021, an increase of 25,990 for January-March.

“Of the P229.70 Billion total outstanding loans, P36.27 Billion benefitted small farmers and fishers, cooperatives and farmers’ associations, rural financial institutions and other conduits.” The DA and DAR should thank LandBank!

LandBank knows The Big Thing that it should be doing for The Small Farmers, and is doing it for them.@517

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[1]https://coins.ph/blog/filipino-women-win-when-it-comes-to-financial/

[2]https://www.landbank.com/news/landbank-supports-agri-agra-law-amendments-to-expand-loan-access-for-farmers-fishers

Polls, Pulse, False: Presidency Is Not Popularity, It’s Leadership

Philippine Political Scene: Some supporters of some presidential candidates are expending time & resources portraying their chosen as more popular than any of the others. Popularity is what they are emphasizing, lower ground, not Personality, higher ground. They are all missing the all-important acquired characteristic of a President: Leadership.

Above, I love the boat image because, on second look, this boat scene summarizes leadership for me: Leadership takes care of Vision, Mission, and Strategy (VMS). So:

Vision: “Where are we going? Are we in fact going there?”
(boat people image[1] from IMD.org)

Mission: “What do we want to do?” “Travel to a place & execute a plan.” “What is the plan? Where is the boatmap?”

Strategy: “We need a rowing boat; we need rowers.”

The boat image is excellent as it shows that the people (followers) have their backs turned and are entirely dependent on the leader for direction! Blind followers? No, because they were told where they are going and while rowing backward, they can see if they are moving forward or not.

“Saan po ba tayo pupunta? Papanantayo ngay apo? Where are we going Sir/Madam?” That’s direction. It must be clear all the time, from beginning to end. In fact, the End of the journey must be clear right at the Beginning! The End justifies the Means.

“Are we in fact getting there? Do we have to change direction now? Are we proceeding too slow or too fast?” The leader should judge at any time. Some perceptive followers would know.

Today, instead, people are treating Credibilityas #1 identifier of an excellent PH President. That is in fact what the supporters of Bongbong Marcos, Isko Moreno and Leni Robredo are harping on, not so much the supporters of Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson.
(image profiles[2] of 5 PH presidential candidates from Rappler)

If not Credibility, Popularity. As a voter and a Facebook hound, which millions of Filipinos are, I don’t care if you have 5 million followers or 7 million subscribers to your Facebook posts. I want someone who has Vision, Mission, Strategy. All 3 in 1 package – you can’t have one without the others!

Vision – If you can tell me your Vision, that means you have an excellent idea of what this country needs foremost, for the good of all; you have my admiration.

Mission – If you can tell me what you want to achieve so that our country will reach that Vision you have described, you are my candidate.

Strategy – If you can tell me how you hope that with the people’s help you will accomplish the Mission that will bring the nation to the realization of the Vision, you have my vote!

Without VMS, even if or especially if you damn to high heavens your rival candidates, you cannot convince me that you are good, or better, or the best! In fact, you are the worst!

I dream of Filipino families cultivating common comfortabilities in cities & communities countrywide. The candidate who can dream my dream, or brighter, is my President!@517

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[1]https://www.imd.org/research-knowledge/articles/resilient-leadership-navigating-the-pressures-of-modern-working-life/

[2]https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/cocfiling

Don’t Panic, Go Organic! Preventing Coronavirus

Are you aware? The coronavirus dreaded disease is indirectly cultivating in humans the knowing habit of consuming organically healthy foods. We should have been doing that right at the youthful age when we began eating!

(Foods image[1] from Positive Vitality)

Now, the Covid-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call for organic cultivators in the Philippines, considering the rising world demand for healthy foods from organic farms or gardens. (I understand Chooks-to-Go chickens are 100% organic – my salute to high-IQ manager Ronald Mascariñas!)

Meanwhile, this April, the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) came up with its own 970-word advice titled “Eating Healthy Before, During And After Covid-19[2]” (07 April 2021, FAO.org). Sorry! The World Health Organization (WHO) has nothingremotely resembling such health-conscious declaration – is the WHO for us? Thank God for the FAO! They know what is good for them is good for us.

The FAO’s advice has 6 items:

“1. Mix it up!”

“Eat a variety of foods within each and across all the food groups to ensure adequate intake of important nutrients. National food-based dietary guidelines can help you.”

“2. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.”

“Fruits and vegetables provide loads of vitamins and minerals as well as the fiber that we need for healthy diet.”

“3. Take the pulse of the situation, be wholesome and go nuts!“

“Pulses, whole grains, nuts and healthy fats such as in olive, sesame, peanut or other unsaturated oils can support your immune system and help to reduce inflammation.”

“4. Limit fats, sugar and salt.“

“As a good habit, check the labels of all the foods you eat to learn about their ingredients and nutritional value. Food labels are there to help you limit the amount of certain ingredients or increase the levels of beneficial ones.”

“5. Practice good food hygiene.“

“Practicing food hygiene and safety is always important. Remember these five tips: (1) keep your hands, cooking utensils and cooking surfaces clean; (2) separate raw and cooked; (3) cook thoroughly; (4) keep food at safe temperatures, and (5) use safe water.”

“6. Be physically active and drink plenty of water.“

“Exercise is important for both our physical and mental health… You should aim for at least 30-60 minutes of daily exercise depending on your age and lifestyle.”

Question: Could you grow your organic food yourself? Yes! How? Learn to love the soil first!
(“Farming with a heart” image[3] from NDTV Food)

I am the son of a farmer of Asingan, Pangasinan; I am an agriculturist, graduate of UP Los Baños ’65; I am a digital warrior writer and a wide reader since the last 21 years – I know this: If you love the soil, it will love you back. How do you do that? Simple: As farmer or gardener, put back to the earth what you got from it, at least your crop refuse, and the soil will grow healthy and grow your healthy food!

Organic – Before or during any illness or disease, especially now during the coronavirus pandemic, we humans all need natural, healthy and tasty foods!@517

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[1]https://positivevitalitynutrition.com/health-news/organic-vs-non-organic-food/

[2]https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1392499/

[3]https://food.ndtv.com/health/organic-farming-1660644

Tagalog “Palayamanan” (Rice + Wealth-Making), Ilocano “Pagayamanan” (Rice + Wealth-Making + Thanksgiving)

Above, you are looking at the promises of Palayamanan. Tagalog: Palayamanan – palay (rice) + yamanan(wealth-making). Ilocano: Pagayamanan– pagay (rice) + yamanan (wealth-making + thanksgiving). I say Pagayamanan is better! 
(Palayamanan original image[1] from Palayamanan Farmers COOP, Facebook)

Palayamanan was born in 2001; in the last 20 years, why have I, an Internet hound, not read how it has multiplied itself and multiplied the wealth of Filipino rice farmers!? Either Palayamanan has failed, or its PhilRice creators have.

I did not realize this before: The rice terraces are a beautiful example of monoculture: Beauty is skin-deep. Philippine visitor-smart tourism is an enemy of farmer-smart agriculture!

But first, why is monoculture widely embraced throughout the world? Earth Observing Systemlists these as advantages of monoculture farming:

(1)   Increased productivity and efficiency

“In most cases, farmers select the crop that will thrive best in the local environment.”

(2)   Open(s) a room for new technologies

“When growing monoculture crops, agrarians tend to have some extra time and financial resources to refer to new technologies in agriculture helping them to maximize their agricultural performance.” New technologies include drones, ground sensors, and satellite-derived data.

I am not going to quarrel with those advantages enumerated for monocultures. What I want to question is the decision of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and, following IRRI’s single-crop example, PhilRice doing research & development (R&D) on rice and rice alone, IRRI for 61 years, PhilRice for 35!

No, I advance-aiming agriculturist and warrior writer am not questioning the quality of R&D executed by either IRRI or PhilRice – rather, I am questioning their stubborn one-crop mentality!

Did neither IRRI nor PhilRice scientists know the disadvantages of monoculture? Conserve Energy Future[2] alone can give 7 and I quote:

(1) Destroys soil nutrients.
(2) Results in the use of harmful chemicals.
(3) Pollutes groundwater supplies
(4) Adversely affects and alters the natural ecosystem
(5) Results in the overall soil's degradation and erosion
(6) Requires lots of water to irrigate
(7) Uses a lot of fossil fuel energy.

Here is Greentumble’sseparate list of the disadvantages of monocultures (“Advantages And Disadvantages Of Monoculture Farming[3],” Greentumble.com):

1. Pest problems
2. Pesticide resistance
3. Soil degradation
4. High use of fertilizers
5. Environmental pollution and climate change
6. Water-demanding
7. Overproduction of commodity crops
8. Declining biodiversity
9. Dangerous for bees
10. High risk of harvest loss
11. Fossil fuel-dependent
12. Not climate smart.

Sarah Besky of Cornell University says (28 June 2017, “Monoculture,” Culanth.org):

Agriculture – or more accurately, horticulture – marks human settlement. Growing plants is both a means of making place and a reason to stay there… When agriculture reaches for economies of scale, plants become plant; think of the singularized nouns soy, cotton, and rubber.

The problems begin with farmers reaching for economies of scale. No more “wild landscapes” – just all-tea, all-sugar, all-coffee, all-tobacco, or all-rice. Thus the need for science and technology!

We must look back at Mother Nature and grow plants and animals like she does – together. And give thanks!@517

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[1]https://www.facebook.com/PalayamananBalayangPalacpalac/

[2]https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/advantages-disadvantages-examples-monoculture.php

[3]https://greentumble.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-monoculture-farming/