Revolutionary! “UNITY IN DIVERSITY” – Frank A Hilario’s New Slogan Pursuing Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages

As an Agriculturist (BSA major in Ag Edu, UP Los Baños 1965), and a Teacher (Civil Service Professional, 1964) – a journalist self-taught, what I have been writing about since 1975 is found in the name of my blog where you are reading this: “Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages (ComDev2).” I can’t remember exactly when that came out, modified from my own “Communication for Development of Villages” (ComDev). In 1980, thinking about “Development Communication” (DevCom) of the UPLB College of Development Communication, I came up with “Communication for Development” (ComDev), to over-emphasize the objective of journalism.

Today, as a writer, I have this double challenge: “Agri-Biotechnology” or “Plant Breeding” (which is man-made) and “Regenerative Agriculture” (which is man-induced but God-made).

The more I think of Agri-Biotechnology and Regenerative Agriculture, having blogged yesterday (“Regenerative Agriculture Shifts The Paradigm,” ebridge Says. “It Has Room For Agribiotech Crops,” I Frank A Hilario Say), which is about the appointment of William Dar, a Filipino with great intellect, as Chair of the ISAAA, which is the “International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications.” The ISAAA website is isaaa.org (isaaa.org) and the slogan is this: “We feed the world with KNOWLEDGE.”

More or less, that inspires me – I am enthused to think out a slogan for myself:
“UNITY IN DIVERSITY!” which is an acronym:

Universal
Needs
Involving
Tools, Techniques & Technologies
Yes,
Intended for
National
Development Derived from
Initiatives of
Volunteers’
Energies & Endearments
Required for
Social
Improvement
Towards
Yesterday’s Yearnings Yet!

The first 2 words have been neglected in programs & projects for progress: “Universal Needs” must serve the needs of the people in society, not simply our family and/or sectoral needs. That cannot be over-emphasized.

For common progress, what the world needs are “Tools, Techniques & Technologies” – where “tools” refers to folk-invented devices for common people doing things and achieving results, “techniques” involving inventive people achieving improved results even with those already-existing tools, and “technologies” for devices & machines from science that are either new or improved instruments for work.

We must all strive for ourselves, our families, and ultimately “National Development.”

Who are called for? Volunteers from anywhere and everywhere, those who are willing to share their “Energies & Endearments” – their efforts arising from their likes and loves – that is, no time spent on being contrary to other ideas and initiatives.

The overall aim is “Social Improvement” for the common “Yearnings” that have been there since “Yesterday Yet!”

Volunteers are needed working with their energies and endearments addressed to everyone. Yes, (a) the ultimate objective is not simply individual, not simply family, but social; (b) considering what everyone has commonly desired for – the good of all.

Thus, above, “UNITY IN DIVERSITY” becomes the world’s first slogan that needs explanation that is 197 words long. The image, from istockphoto.com, I believe says: “We must share love, not hate.”

Now then: No articles from me contrary to the concepts of others – instead, I present my own concepts, especially in larger scale, such as this one!@517

“Regenerative Agriculture Shifts The Paradigm,” ebridge Says. “It Has Room For Agribiotech Crops,” I Frank A Hilario Say

With the news by ANN, “ISAAA Inc Announces New Chair of ISAAA Board of Trustees” (Author Not Named, 26 June 2024, Science Speaks, ISAAA, isaaa.org), who is William Dar, has become an eye-opener, twice for me, thus: (1) Prior to this, I did not know Mr Dar subscribed to agribiotechnology; (2) Thinking further than the objectors of “Golden Rice,” I see how this biotech rice can be grown with regenerative methods – and thus contribute to the fight against malnutrition and Climate Change. Here is Regenerative Agriculture regenerating the good!
(image, “Golden Rice” from freepik.com)

All these thoughts have come to me after Mr Dar sent me via Facebook, the link to the ISAAA article.

Now then, let’s see what ISAAA knows about its new Chair:

During [William Dar’s] term as the DA Secretary under President Joseph Estrada’s administration (1998-1999), the agricultural sector of the Philippines recorded a 9.6% growth, an achievement that has never been achieved until today. He also served as the DA Secretary during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte from August 2019 to June 2022, with the vision of a food-secure and resilient country with empowered farmers and fisherfolk.

(PH with a 9.6% growth in agriculture – I was sorry to see that our President Bongbong Marcos (BBM) replaced Mr Dar with himself as Agri Sec. It seemed to me, BBM was playing politics, not policy.)

Golden Rice belongs in Regenerative Agriculture (RA), and RA belongs in the fight against Climate Change. That’s the policy that I subscribe to.

ebridge says. “Regenerative Agriculture Shifts The Paradigm” (26 May 2022, ESUS Agri Ltd, esusagri.co.uk, source of image above) as Regenerative Agriculture “partner[s] with Nature” while Chemical Agriculture “compete/s with Nature.”

Again from ISAAA, Janine Cyren Escasura says, “ISAAA Report Calls For Transformative Biosciences And Communication” (15 May 2024, Science Speaks, ISAAA, isaaa.org). As an agriculturist engaged in Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, the name of the blog where you are reading this, that doubles my admiration for ISAAA.

More: Regenerative Agriculture is one of the current policies in the mind of Mr Dar. Thus he says (“Time To Scale Up Regenerative Agriculture, Part 1, (25 Jan 2024, Manila Times, manilatimes.net):

We should not waste time scaling up regenerative agriculture in the Philippines, given the numerous challenges local food producers face locally and globally.

We have to start shifting away from the “First Agricultural Revolution” that was characterized by expansion and exploitation, feeding people at the expense of forests, wildlife, water, and soil. This also led to the destabilization of our climate.

From all that, to put words into his mouth, Mr Dar is thinking, more or less:
It’s time for the “Second Agricultural Revolution” that must be characterized by exclusion and an ecological economy, feeding people while taking good care of forests, wildlife, water, and soil.

If Regenerative Agriculture is to become the hope of the future today, we must start now before Climate Change changes all of us not for the better but for the worse/worst!@517

If Your Writing Goes To Sleep Because Of “Writer’s Block,” Here’s Advice From Me, An Indefatigable Blogger – Learning From Stephen Covey And Franz Kafka

If you have “Writer’s Block,” or any trouble beginning or continuing to write, as a professional journalist, science writer, or someone asked to address a group, here’s a story from long ago we can all learn from. 
(image from musicgateway.com)

We can all learn from the bad. And – No matter the similarity of the first name, FRANZ KAFKA is not one of my favorite novelists. But here I am reading ANN’s report, “Franz Kafka Letter, In Which He Talks Of Writer's Block, Heads To Auction” (Author Not Named, 27 June 2024, ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com):

Kafka, one of the 20th century's greatest writers, known for works such as "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis," wrote the letter to Austrian poet and publisher Albert Ehrenstein, in what is believed to be a response for a request to contribute to (the) literary journal "Die Gefährten". In the one-page letter in German and signed just "Kafka", the Prague-born novelist says he has not written anything in three years.

A writer stopped from writing for 3 years because of “Writer’s Block!” A terrible thing that can happen, whether you are a much-respected writer, columnist in a newspaper, or blogger like me.

Nota Bene: I have never had writer’s block!

From 2000 to 2007, I was blogging for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and ICRISAT collected my works and published 7 books of mine. No writer’s block there! I was already 60 years old in 2000 when ICRISAT recruited me as a writer from home (WFH) communicator – I had already learned my lessons on how to avoid writer’s block 25 years before that! (Thankfully, that ICRISAT recruitment was a happy 8 years of WFH for me.)

And since 2000, I have blogged not only for ICRISAT but for the PH Department of Agriculture (DA), and for myself even as I pursue my personal “campaign” for more intelligent and more science-based agriculture, some 50,000 articles of different lengths, from 517 to 50,000 words – you can safely conclude that I know what I am talking about!

Not anymore me, but you, whether engaged by an office or not, writer’s block can trouble you. Here’s my advice every single time you encounter writer’s block:

Steps to choose from:
_/ Stop & do something else, anything.
_/ Grab a book, any book, and read anywhere.
_/ Call someone on your phone, anyone.
_/ Browse Facebook, anywhere.
_/ (If nothing works, call it a day!)

The thing is, to unblock your Writer’s Block, find yourself something to do that will distract you from what you are writing. Anything at all.

Finally, we can learn from Stephen Covey, American educator, author of the very popular “The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People” (published by Free Press, 1989):

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” In this case, the lesson to unblock your Writer’s Block I pick up is this: “to re-schedule your priorities!”@517

Journalists In A Primate Crisis In The Midst Of The Climate Crisis? Rappler To The Rescue!

Wow! I am much surprised – and much pleased – that Rappler has produced journalism that Filipinos can subscribe to and help them thrive!

I must congratulate Rappler for reporting earnestly on Climate Change, the world’s enemy bigger than Capitalism or Communism. That, while institutions and individuals maintain their apathy towards the biggest enemy of all!

I’m reading John Leo C Algo’s 2-day old article, “No Room For ‘Business As Usual’ In Era Of Climate Emergency” (25 Jun 2024, Rappler, rappler.com). By title alone, I am heartened that Rappler has seen the enemy – and it is us!

Mr Algo says:

We are already experiencing firsthand what happens if we stay in a “business-as-usual” scenario. Record-setting heat indices, suspension of classes, and losses in agricultural production have dominated headlines in recent months alone.

When El Niño comes, can La Niña be far behind?

I repeat:

“We are already experiencing firsthand what happens if we stay in a “business-as-usual” scenario. Record-setting heat indices, suspension of classes, and losses in agricultural production have dominated headlines in recent months alone.”

I am an old agriculturist (UP Los Baños BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965, 2.36 weighted average), but even up to now, UPLB does not teach about agriculture contributing much to the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that generate Climate Change! Now then, why not Rappler visiting UP Los Baños so that this school of learning would start learning from outside the classroom!

Says Mr Algo:

The Philippines’ contribution to global warming is also increasing. Its emissions have increased by 114% from 1990 to 2017. As of 2020, the country has a 0.5% share of the GHGs produced globally, making it among the 40 highest emitters worldwide.

Guilty as charged!

The Philippines is among the 40 highest emitters of GHGs in the world! The GHGs come mostly from Chemical Agriculture (CA), of course, from the continuous application of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides.

The Philippine private sector, especially those with adequate resources and capacities, must embrace current opportunities and perform its duties contributing to low-carbon, climate-resilient development.

The public sector no less, starting with the Department of Agriculture (DA).

After “climate-resilient,” I go for “primate-resilient” solutions – farmers as primates, thinking mammals, must start their Regenerative Agriculture (RA); farmers must stop applying chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides to their fields and crops and start practicing any number of the following practices and methods (my list, based on Robert Rodale’s 1980s enumeration):

Regenerative Agriculture (RA):
1, Cover Cropping
2, Crop Rotation
3, Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry)
4, Green Manuring
5, “Highly Ecological Rotavation” (HERo, FAH’s invention)
6, Intercropping
7, Multiple Cropping
8, No-Till Farming
9, Organic Fertilization
10, Ratooning
11, “Three Sisters” Planting
12, Trap Cropping
13, Trash Mulching.

No, Rappler does not have to master the world of Regenerative Agriculture; Rappler just has to muster more of its courage to encourage the agriculture sector to actively respond to Climate Change!

Before I forget, before anyone else does, I nominate Rappler for the Nobel Peace Prize 2024!@517

How To Resolve A National Problem – ¬PH Being World’s #1 Rice Importer, How To Rise Above Mediocrity: Primate-Friendly Inbred Rice Or Hybrid Rice? Both! & Both Via Climate-Friendly Non-Chemical Agriculture!

How To Resolve A National Problem – ­PH Being World’s #1 Rice Importer, How To Rise Above Mediocrity: Primate-Friendly Inbred Rice Or Hybrid Rice? Both! & Both Via Climate-Friendly Non-Chemical Agriculture!

Very Bad News – “Philippines To Remain As World’s Top Rice Importer [Until] 2025,” Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas says (13 May 2024, PhilStar, philstar.com). Very Good News, I agriculturist say: “Even today, my country the Philippines has hybrid and inbred rice varieties that can yield 2 times as much as our current farmers are getting – and earn 3 times as much as they do today! That is, if our farmers practice intelligent nature-based farming. In which case, our farmers will decrease their costs hugely and increase their returns largely, so that in 1 year PH will be self-sufficient in rice – and our poor rice farmers will become rich, richer, richest!

That dream of mine can only come true if PhilRice, IRRI and our hybrid rice companies practice-teach as one united group any of the following methods of non-chemical agriculture called “Regenerative Agriculture,” the philosophy of which we owe American farmer Robert Rodale (see “The Original Principles Of Regenerative Agriculture,” 1989, Rodale Institute, rodaleinstitute.org); here is my personal, alphabetical list –

Regenerative Agriculture (RA) –
1, Cover Cropping
2, Crop Rotation
3, Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry)
4, Green Manuring
5, “Highly Ecological Rotavation” (HERo, FAH’s invention)
6, Intercropping
7, Multiple Cropping
8, No-Till Farming
9, Organic Fertilization
10, Ratooning
11, “Three Sisters” Planting
12, Trap Cropping
13, Trash Mulching.

You can grow hybrid rice and/or inbred rice using any of the above 13 ways of natural methods of growing crops, in fact, any crop – regenerative agriculture revives and maintains the natural fertility of soils.

Specifically about hybrid rice:

Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos says, “PBBM Eyes Program For Hybrid Rice Production To Boost Crop Yield” (15 Feb 2023, Philippine News Agency, pna.gov.ph):

President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr has sought the implementation of a program that will promote the use of hybrid rice varieties to help increase crop production in the country, Malacañang announced on Wednesday… (This after) Marcos met Tuesday with executives of SL Agritech Corp (SLAC) and farmer representatives from Central Luzon at Malacañan Palace in Manila to address the challenges in the rice industry.

That was last year. Don’t forget: In the Philippines:

(1) The industrial challenge is: Rice is PH’s staple crop, but PH is the world’s #1 rice importer!
(2) The existential challenge is: Climate Change!

Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos says (15 Feb 2023, “PBBM Eyes Program For Hybrid Rice Production To Boost Crop Yield,” Philippine News Agency, pna.gov.ph), During the meeting, Chief Executive Officer of SL Agritech Corp Henry Lim Bon Liong

proposed the conversion of about 1.9 million hectares of rice farming areas planted with certified seeds (CS) to [increase] the planting of hybrid seeds in four years.

CS yes; regenerative agriculture, yes! We want to avoid rice importation – at the same time, we also want to avoid Climate Change. And we can do both & simultaneously by growing rice via any of the 13 methods I listed above under Regenerative Agriculture.

Very happy rice farming, Filipinos!@517

­2 Years Ago, Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar Was Talking About Climate-Smart Agriculture – Look Who Is Not Talking Now!

William Dar (left) was Secretary of Agriculture starting 2019; then PH Pres BBM (middle) replaced him with himself in 2022; then BBM appointed Francis Tiu Laurel Jr (right) in 2023. That is, in 4 years, there had been 2 primate changes at the Department of Agriculture (DA). Meanwhile, Climate Change remains unchallenged by the primate changes. By definition, a “primate” is a “thinking mammal” – was BBM wise with his 2 Primate Changes at the DA? Let’s find out.

Today, as the 1^st Primate of PH Agriculture, what is Sec Tiu Laurel Jr doing about the deadly dangers of Climate Change? None that I know of, and I surf the Internet everyday every now and then. You cannot dissolve a deadly threat by ignoring it!

At the PH Department of Agriculture, today nobody is talking about Climate Change – are the DA people smart by avoiding to talk about El Niño and La Niña, the deadly forms of Climate Change?

I therefore conclude: “Current Secretary of Agriculture Salvador Tiu Laurel Jr does not seem to understand Climate Change as it relates to Agriculture, so he is our prime target for Primate Change!”

Not surprisingly, I see the name of William Dar as Agri Sec 2 years ago talking about Climate Change in a 27 Feb 2022 article written by Jewel Labita: “DA Attributes P24B For Climate-Smart Agri And Food Systems In 2022” (Department of Agriculture, da.gov.ph):

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has reaffirmed the Philippine government’s commitment in increasing aggregate public investments in agricultural innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems in the next three years.

From 2022, “the next three years” – after BBM as Agri Sec (2022) and now Tiu Laurel Jr (2023), what has the PH DA done in terms of climate-smart agriculture? None that I can see! Climate Change will not change until we change it.

And so I wrote the other day, “People, We Need A Primate Change To Combat Climate Change In The PH Department Of Agriculture! We Need A Secretary With A Vision, Mission, Strategy!” (23 June 2024, Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com).

Sorry to say, but we needed yesterday a Primate Change for Climate Change at the Department of Agriculture! A primate who understands Climate Change and has lots of ideas of how farmers can vigorously help combat it – and, at the same time, tremendously improve their lives! We need a science-miracle worker.

Glad to say I see that our immediate hope for an intelligent Primate Change at the Department of Agriculture is to reappoint William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture.

How come I believe so much in William Dar as the wunderkind PH Secretary of Agriculture? Because I know he is a successful institutional & international leader – in fact, when he was Director-General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) 2000-2014, he brought ICRISAT from kulelat (dead last) to the top of the CGIAR list of 16 international research institutes in agriculture!

You can’t beat a winner!@517

People, We Need A Primate Change To Combat Climate Change In The PH Department Of Agriculture! We Need A Secretary With A Vision, Mission, Strategy!

In these dark times of Climate Change, where is the “Vision” proclaimed for Filipino farmers by The Primate at PH Department of Agriculture (DA)?” None that I can see!

(original image from everypixel.com)

Climate Change is here, and no one can deny it – except if you have blindfolded yourself and/or are pretending not to notice! What do you call the increasing and devastating occurrences of El Niño and La Niña? “Global warming” – Nature (nature.com).

I just googled
images vision Philippines “Department of Agriculture”
exactly as you see the 6 words in the 2^nd line above in this paragraph, including the double quotes, and only 1 correct image showed, from Facebook, that from William Dar when he became PH Agriculture Secretary, 2019-2022. He had “New Thinking for Agriculture” – the more we need that now! Think, Primates, People!

All that tells me that the current leadership of PH Agriculture has, knowingly or unknowingly, blindfolded himself to avoid seeing the ravages of Climate Change, such as thousands of people suffering, families in distress.

What El Niño? What La Niña?
“Ignorance is bliss!” (courtesy of British poet Thomas Gray)

As far as I know, as much as I can discern from the (lack of) announcements and pronouncements from the PH DA, our current Agri Sec Francis Tiu Laurel Jr is not keen on meeting headlong Climate Change with Primate Change, beginning with himself as the Primary Primate. He does not see the need for any changes in Chemical Agriculure (CA), which is a huge contributor to Climate Change? What I know as an agriculturist is that chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides generate greenhouse gases (GHGs) that help generate El Niño and La Niña. If Mr Secretary doesn’t know that, time to educate him!

What can we Filipinos do?

First: President BBM, time to change the Secretary of Agriculture!

As I put it, it’s time for “Primate Change for Climate Change!” Let us have an Agri Sec who is very much aware of the current Climate Change crisis and has the Vision/Mission/Strategy to lead each of us Pinoy primates/farmers changing from chemical agriculture to regenerative agriculture!

“Regenerative Agriculture” (RA) as a term or idea may sound foreign but actually farmers are familiar with its principles and practices. Here are a few of them:

Regenerative Agriculture Modified List Of Practices (from FAH):

1, Cover cropping
2, Crop rotation
3, Farm crops + tree crops (Agroforestry)
4, Green manuring
5, “Intelligent rotavation”
6, Intercropping
7, Multiple cropping
8, No-till farming
9, Organic fertilization
10, Ratooning
11, “Three Sisters” planting
12, Trap cropping
13, Trash mulching.

(Where “Intelligent rotavation” is an invention of Frank A Hilario.)

We have to act as soon as possible (ASAP)! There will always be harsh weather, but not as harsh as when we learn to reduce to near zero our GHGs – by practicing any and all of the above. ASAP!

We need a Secretary of Agriculture who will lead us from the darkness to the light!@517

Texting PH DA On The National Need For Pinoy Primate Change In The Fight Against Climate Change & Farmer Poverty

I am probably the first recorded writer to use the term “Primate Change” in relation to “Climate Change.” In 2007, I blogged “Primate Change? Or Climate Change?” (31 March 2007, The American Frank, wordpress.com). 17 years later, it’s more urgent today, here I am blogging abouty “Primate Change For Climate Change!” “Primate” is “a member of the most developed and intelligent group of mammals, including humans…” – Cambridge Dictionary (dictionary.cambridge.org).

Today, I have a revolutionary thought about the use of cellphones – “Text for Truth” (T4T). So, Filipinos, here are some questions you can text Agri Sec Francis Tiu Laurel Jr, or any DA manager, to prompt the DA to create a Knowledge Bank to answer any questions automatically & digitally!
(texting image from pixabay, pixabay.com)

1.     Sec Tiu Laurel, what are you doing about Climate Change?

2.     PH DA, what can farmers do to fight El Niño, and La Niña?

3.     PH DA, what can we do to fight Climate Change?

4.     Sec Tiu Laurel, can you give us a 100-word summary of Climate Change?

5.     What can the public do about El Niño or La Niña?

6.     Why is UP Los Baños still teaching farmers the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides?

7.     Why is applying chemical fertilizers bad for the environment?

8.     What should be applied instead of chemical fertilizers for farmers’ crops?

9.     Can we call the Municipal Agricultural Officer (MAO) in our town for technical help?

10. If we don’t use chemical fertilizers, our yields will go down – Help us please!

11. We don’t have money to buy organic fertilizer.

12. What is “Regenerative Agriculture”?

13. How can we make compost cheaply and easily?

14. Is compost as good as organic fertilizer?

15. The government should support marketing of farm products.

16. Do we have a library somewhere where we can find answers to questions anytime?

17. How can we use our rotavator tractor to enrich the soil naturally?

18. What can the local government do for common farmers to help them farm and make much more money?

19. Why is sundrying bad for palay?

20. How well can government help me avoid 5/6 when I don’t have money for chemicals?

21. What do government banks have to offer farmers?

22. How can cooperatives help farmers earn more money?

23. Why do we need to plow the field?

24. What is wrong with plowing by farmers?

25. How can farmers increase rice yield cheaply?

26. How can we prevent usury?

27. Cannot the PH DA fight El Niño and La Niña?

28. What is the meaning of “Primate” in “Primate Change”?

29. What if I can’t find any answer to my question?

30. Can we fight El Niño and La Niña? How?

31. Why do Filipino farmers remain poor, even those who are industrious?

32. How come President FM’s “Masagana 99” failed to make farmers richer?

33. How can farming be made low in total costs and high in net income?

Happy texting!@517

Digital Gadgets Overwhelming People? No! Worry More About Too Few People Calling For Primate Change Vs Climate Change!

Ubiquitous – You can see digital gadgets everytime; especially cellphones of great variety, they are everywhere – with some people with 2 or more gadgets.

A friend of mine long before cellphones came about, Jerry A Quibilan (JAQ) shares Pressreader author Rafael Alunan III’s article on “The Harmful Effects Of Gadget Overuse” (18 June 2024, pressreader.com). Here is the first sentence from Mr Alunan:

“I'd like to focus on an alarming problem we all face in our everyday lives – the overuse and negative consequences of gadgets we can't do away with.”
(original image from pixabay.com)

Ah, there indeed is a super-abundance of, among other gadgets, cellphones today, and there is overuse – but I see neither as harmful.

“Gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets and other devices are omnipresent today, shaping how we interact with each other and our environment. No doubt, these technological wonders offer numerous benefits, but they also present significant challenges.”

Whatever the significant challenges, Mr Alunan, I agriculturist and communicator for development Frank A Hilario worry more about this:

“I am bothered by the lack of communication about how to help change this world for the better!”

You don’t text or talk on your phone about Climate Change, do you? You have been told about “El Niño” being the damager, and nothing about Man being the primary cause of El Niño/Climate Change! You have not been told that Primate Change is necessary to resolve Climate Change.

It is not how those gadgets are being over-used – it is how those gadgets are under-used when it comes to calls to move more people more for the good of all!

JAQ says:

“My (long-standing) advocacy for “Peace, Prosperity, Unity and Love” requires my overusing my mobile phone and laptop. One of the major vehicles in my advocacy is to read a lot of news, comment on them, if necessary and share them with my relatives, friends, acquaintances, and others.”

“Peace, Prosperity, Unity and Love” Precisely! That’s JAQ, and I admire him for that. He has been at it for years – but he is only one. We need more people concerned for the good of more people, a million for the millions.

Too late for JAQ to turn into a blogger. Self-taught and self-propelled, I am “lucky” that I can reach thousands more people with my blogging.

I emphasize: “My advocacy is Primate Change vs Climate Change.” Especially in the wide field of Agriculture, in which modern farming creates the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that create Climate Change that creates havoc on people’s lives and loves.

Yes, those chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides are the guilty ones creating those GHGs that create El Niño and La Niña!

That’s why we need lots of gadget calls – to convince farmers to change their Chemical Agriculture to Regenerative Agriculture so that there will be no more El Niño and La Niña.

Text people if you care!@517

At 8 Years Of Age, Jose Rizal “Declared PH Independence” 3 Decades Before President Emilio Aguinaldo Did!

Surprised? 19 June 2024 – I do not simply wish “Happy Birthday!” to our National Hero Jose Rizal; I earnestly wish “Happy Birthday, PH Independence!” The Filipino idea of Independence was first proclaimed by this Boy Wonder. Here’s the story you probably don’t know – not one of our history books mention this!

I believe that historians, Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike, have misinterpreted the Calamba boy’s poem, “Sa Aking Mga Kabata.” They think that that boy has been poetic about his national language, that is all. Not this Ilocano!

Here is my translation, “To Kids Of My Own Time” – I translated that poem 04 Jan 2016:

If the people naturally love
its tongue that is a gift from Heaven,
pawned freedom too it will seek to gain
as the bird that flies the sky above.

Since language is an estimation
of kingdom, town and community,
and man is like, a match to any
creature who has been of freedom born.

His native tongue who does not treasure
is worse than a beast or smelly fish;
it’s right that on our own we nourish
like a mother who bestows favor.

Tagalog language is like Latin,
English, Spanish, and angelic tongue,
because God who has the wisdom
is He who gave, to us did assign.

Our own language, like any other,
had alphabet and letters, its own,
now vanished since by waves overthrown
like bancas in the lake long before.

All stanzas mention language. Our historians (and Tagalog professors) have always interpreted the first stanza as the essence of the poem – but, remember, the boy Rizal was a genius, and it showed in this poem. Let me explain.

Where is Rizal’s genius in “Sa Aking Mga Kabata”? In the last stanza – Here it is, read again!

Our own language, like any other,
had alphabet and letters, its own,
now vanished since by waves overthrown
like bancas in the lake long before.

Read the first and last stanza, and the meaning of the first stanza becomes clear; no, it is not obvious – that is to mislead the reader. The real intention of the Boy Poet can be seen in the last stanza: “Our own language… now vanished since by waves overthrown...”

It was “Freedom” that had been overthrown, “not Language.” We Filipinos were no longer free. “Freedom” is disguised as “Language” but the last stanza implies what the real subject of the poem was – our Tagalog language had not disappeared when the 8-year old Jose Rizal wrote that poem – so he did not mean “language” by saying “language.” The poem says, “now vanished since by waves overthrown” – what has vanished was the essence of freedom. The poem talks of Freedom itself!

Ergo: PH Independence was declared by a boy of 8 several decades before old boy PH President Emilio Aguinaldo declared the independence of the Philippines from the Spanish rulers!

Can you find another boy genius like our Philippine National Hero? I doubt it!@517

Go Explore The Digital World, Once-Young Man! It’s Almost Free, And You Will Feel Most Free!

I will soon be a happy 84 (happy image from r.search.yahoo.com). Since 1991, I have been visiting every single day a happy place undiscovered by millions of retirees aged between 65 and 95 – The Digital World.

Retired. How to live happily in the digital world? After watching movies, after talking with friends via the Internet? Explore the digital universe, not to mention the minds of men already recorded here, there and everywhere. Yes, you can be sharing their ideas, sharing your ideas.

For the good of all,
not for the bad of some!
The greatest good is Love, and that is what I have been sharing in my blogs.

Love has many shades: You agree. You correct gently. You expand the horizon of someone. You present a different view without mentioning what You disagree with, and without insulting someone.

No, I have not always been kind to people I disagree with. But I have learned my lesson – if you believe you are right, why do you have to insult people whom you believe are wrong?!

You are not a writer? You can write short pieces and share them on Facebook. Lovelier with image/s. Ask a friend to help you put in an image or two.

Look into your inner world and decide which ones encourage you, inspire you, make you happier. Those are the things that you should be going after in the digital world especially when feeling low.

You think the Internet is only for Facebook hounds like them and bloggers like me – think better! Yes, the digital world is for everyone who can press a PC keyboard, no exceptions.

Nobody told me to go blogging, but it changed my intellectual life for the better. I have been blogging in the last 24 years, since 2000, while illustrating my articles mostly with my own photographs collected over the years.

After high school, 1957, I learned to type via the kindness of my cousin Luciana Gaño-Llamas. When I was already teaching high school in our town, Asingan, Pangasinan, I ordered by mail a portable Corona typewriter. In other words, I had already at that time decided that I would be a writer the rest of my life. (God, I’d like to spend the rest of my life blogging until I am 111, please!)

A very wide reader in high school yet in the early 1950s, little did I know that the digital world would come along – and I would become a denizen there! Today, I blog every so often. At this time, I probably have blogged 50,000 essays of different lengths, the shortest being 517 words, like this one, including the title. (517 is Frank A Hilario.)

You, retiree you, you can begin with Facebook. Everyday, I scan the pages of & faces on Facebook. You can post about almost anything – ask someone to teach you how to include an image or two. You will love it!

“Happy Retirement” should mean travelling the world of the Internet. Thank God for Facebook!@517

This Father Is A Roman Catholic, Thus Twice Is His Delight That A Sunday Is Father’s Day And God The Father’s Day

This father is a Roman Catholic, thus twice is his delight that a Sunday is “Father’s Day” and “God The Father’s Day.” (We should attend mass – but God knows I can’t because I have bad ears and an ailing feet, among other human troubles. Not to forget, I thank God every single day for the blessings.)

On 21 Sept 2019, I wrote “Frank A Hilario Teaches Thinking – Because You Are Not!” where you find the above image (“Ammom, Pilipinas,” blogspot.com). This father has always been teaching thinking for yourself.

I’m happy I will soon be exactly 84. Here’s an intellectual game I invented: On my birthday, an entire municipality in Luzon will celebrate with a beauty contest and a community parade, among other celebrations. You have not heard of a whole town celebrating during someone’s birthday, have you? Now you have!

About Father’s Day: I remember one time, when we had only about 5 children, my wife demanded: “Magpa-vasectomy ka!” My instant reply was: “Over my dead penis!” Ampy was not joking – neither was I.

So, here we are, a family of 13 children:

01, Tina, 14 February 1968
02, Jomar, 27 August 1969
03, Dida, 06 February 1971
04, Jay, 11 April 1972
05, Techie, 27 July 1973
06. Cynthia, 08 April 1976
07, July, 02 July 1977
08, Jenny, 06 August 1979
09, Ernie (+), 22 May 1981
10, Daph, 21 December 1983
11, Neens, 20 January 1985
12, Edwin (?), 06 April 1988
13, Ela, 13 June 1990.

Necessary Clue: My wife comes from a family of 12 children, the Gabriel & Remedios Reynosos – we the Dionisio & Sixta Hilarios were only 3.

3 of our children (Neenah, Edwin & Ela) attended the Cahbriba Alternative School founded by husband & wife Doc Ciel Habito and Pilar Relova based on the Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory of Harvard Professor Howard Gardner. To help grow Cahbriba and the schoolers, I brainchilded a request submitted to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which granted PhP2 M, if I remember right.

Elsewhere, I have also been very productive. I have blogged at least 40,000 essays since 24 years ago. I have been happy with Blogger.com where you are reading this (Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com).

Decades ago, I became a published writer, thanks to Pete Bueno who took me into the Forest Research Institute (FORI, now ERDB). At FORI, I fathered 3 publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. Those 3 publications helped make FORI a respected name in forestry.

Those FORI years were typewriter-driven. Since 24 years ago, my current preoccupation is digital communication: writing, editing, desktop publishing, blogging. All those modern skills I taught myself – well, I graduated from the UP College Of Agriculture (now UPLB) with a teacher’s degree: BSA major in Ag Edu, and I passed the very first Teacher’s Exam (no reviewers yet) with a grade of 80.6% in 1964. I say, the mantra is: “Teacher, teach yourself!”

And: “Father, congratulate yourself!”@517