Santiago R Obien (SRO): “Leadership In Rice Research” – Excellent! “Passion For Enriching Rice Farmers In The Philippines” – Much To Translate!

 

Happy birthday, SRO! Sunday, 28 July, 89 years old. Founding Director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

The best is yet to come!
The best is yet to come?

Santiago R Obien (SRO) is the Father of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), whose creation was signed into law by PH President Ferdinand Marcos (FM) 05 Nov 1985. On June 1987, SRO became PhilRice Executive Director, appointed by Pres Corazon Aquino.

The above images, photos by yours truly, are both dated 24 Jan 2019 taken off the rice fields and inside the auditorium of my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan at the Francisco Sapigao Memorial Sports Center during the “8^th National Rice Technology Forum (NRTF)” sponsored by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and participated in by hybrid rice companies Bayer, BioRice, Corteva, Longpin, SeedWorks, and SL Agritech. The NRTF continues to this day.

Notably, with the leadership and inspiration of SRO, based in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, PhilRice became a leading rice research institute in Asia, given the awesome presence of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which was/is based in Los Baños, Laguna.

Some 4 years ago, I wrote, “SRO Is Legendary Winner Over Rice. Next Challenge – Rice-Based Farming Systems!” (30 Nov 2020, Healthy Farms For Healthy Foods, blogspot.com). By that time, SRO was out of PhilRice; it remained for the next PhilRice Director to face that challenge – I have not been following the developments in this regard.

Sir, Santiago R Obien, SRO – you are 89 years old, and you have been a weed scientist since your PhD in Soil Science with specialization in Weed Science and Herbicide Degradation in Soils in 1970 at the University of Hawaii. The old world has a new challenge for you:

Look at weeds as friends of crops, not enemies! Degraded into organic matter, weeds enrich the soil and eventually enrich the lives of millions of farmers, whoever they are!

That in a nutshell, I must say, is the essence of Regenerative Agriculture (RA), which came out from the American Rodale Institute in the 1980s, with its 13 practices as follows (my list):

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.

Sorry, but Chemical Agriculture (CA), which you are familiar with, is now the obvious enemy of farmers, as chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides generate greenhouse gases (GHGs); in turn, the GHGs have made quite destructive “El Niño” and “La Niña.”

There is more, Sir! Farmer enemies: Climate Change is new; Farmer Poverty is old. Poverty arises despite the industriousness of farmers because of the high total cost of chemical agriculture. With Regenerative Agriculture, the total cost goes down and net returns go up! Regenerative Agriculture enriches the soil, enriches the harvests, enriches the food with natural elements, and enriches the farmer.

SRO, Sir!?@517

A climate blogger, I must congratulate Earth Journalism Network (EJN) for sponsoring a media program it calls “Earth Shorts,” which is on “Climate Resilience” – right now, EJN is “calling on social media (video) content producers in the Philippines to participate.” EJN says, “Earth Shorts is a double opportunity: training and grant.” Deadline for application: Tuesday, 30 July 2024, 11:59 PM.

Why is EJN into this? It says:

… Social media influencers can shape political decisions, engage their followers on civic issues and motivate action.

Social media has power to influence public action like print media has never seen before!

On the other hand, under pressure from platform algorithms to produce frequent and "clickbaity" content, and often ill-equipped with factchecking skills – particularly relevant when discussing science-based issues such as climate impacts and solutions – they are both vulnerable to and can also be disseminators of mis- and disinformation when engaging with their followers.

Thus the need for guidance such as from EJN.

 In view of these challenges and opportunities, EJN is piloting an initiative to strengthen the quality of actionable climate information on social media platforms – and consequently, deepen public engagement with local, national and regional climate issues. We aim to do so by strengthening the climate knowledge and resources of social media content producers.

I note – EJN’s focus is on “Climate Resilience.”

The London School of Economics and Political Science says (lse.ac.uk):

‘Adaptation’ and ‘resilience’ are often used interchangeably in policy and academic discourse, and while they are complementary concepts, there are important differences in these terms. At its most basic, adaptation refers to a process or action that changes a living thing so that it is better able to survive in a new environment, whereas resilience describes the capacity or ability to anticipate and cope with shocks, and to recover from their impacts in a timely and efficient manner.

EJN’s Earth Shorts is going after “resilience” – I, a self-appointed journalist in pursuit of “Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages” as my blog title states, am going after “adaptation.” That is to say, I do not want to change the crops; rather, I want to change the technology of how the crops are grown, via:
(image sources: top ftoolkit.climate.gov, bottom canvas.eee.uci.edu)

1, Cover Cropping
2, Crop Rotation
3, Farm Crops + Tree Crops (Agroforestry)
4, Green Manuring
5, Intercropping
6, Multiple Cropping
7, No-Till Farming
8, Organic Fertilization
9, Ratooning
10, Rotational Grazing
11, “Three Sisters” Planting
12, Trap Cropping
13, Trash Mulching.

More to the point: While EJN by default accepts Climate Change as a fact of life and modern Chemical Agriculture (CA) not connected when it comes to Climate Change, I do not! Sorry to say.

The only climate adaptation that I will accept is to reject Chemical Agriculture and inject Regenerative Agriculture. CA generates greenhouse gases (GHGs), and the GHGs generate Climate Change! RA generates zero GHGs and instead generates healthy soils, healthy foods, healthy incomes, healthy villages – if we engage in RA, Climate Change will go the way of the dodo!@517

 

Heartening news, from the SONA – “President Marcos has challenged new Education Secretary Sonny Angara to ensure that the quality of education in the country improves as soon as possible.” 
(image from slideshare.net)

Betheena Unite says, “Marcos Challenges Angara: Improve PH Education ASAP” (22 July 2024, Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph). That was in BBM’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday:

Our (whole) system of education must be strategically calibrated to make sure that our youth are not only taught to become literate. But, it must also consciously develop them into problem-solvers, and into critical thinkers – hungry for success and ready for the future!

ASAP. That’s what I call a Thinking President: Hurray, BBM!

Now then, “problem-solvers” and “critical thinkers” – we can produce students like those if we follow the educational paradigm of Harvard professor Howard Gardner that he calls “Multiple Intelligences” (MI) with a list of 9, to which I have added 1, as follows:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

BBM should find the students he want in that list: “problem-solvers, critical thinkers” in any and all areas of intelligences, plural.

“Marcos Jr acknowledged that Filipino students have been lagging on several fronts compared to their foreign counterparts.” (I say never mind PISA!) I say let us teach intelligences from Grade School to Grad School.

"Digitalization and solar powered electricity must now become a standard in our classrooms. simply put, this is educational reform through technology."

Digital technology. I have enjoyed digital technology since the Internet came to the Philippines in 1991, that is, in the last 33 years.

MI is not new to the Philippines either.

ANN says, “The Habitos Wage A Silent Revolution In Laguna” (Author Not Named, 12 Nov 2001, philstar.com/business). Yes, the Habitos are Ciel & Pilar Habito, Ciel being the former NEDA head and now an esteemed columnist of the Inquirer.

"We are working towards the day when all students will be equipped with computers, smart TVs, essential programs, digital books and – once again – access to reliable power and the Internet."

Now then, BBM Sir, let the whole Philippines teach all those 10 intelligences – teachers first!

We must teach our students, from Grade School to Grad School, to discover and develop their own individual geniuses, called “Multiple Intelligences” by original thinker Harvard professor Gardner, called “Human/e Intelligences” by me to emphasize the adoption of multiple intelligences among the people as an answer to the proliferation of AI.

Why “Human/e Intelligences”? I want to emphasize that intelligences must be discovered, developed and exercised for the good of humanity!

The intelligence I added, “Creative Intelligence,” is anti-AI. Today, AI is being used to steal intelligent works from humans.@517

Surprise! Jose Rizal As Your Ideal Farmer Long Ago – Centuries Before Climate Change And Regenerative Agriculture!

You probably know that PH National Hero Jose Rizal was a farmer in Dapitan before he was executed by the Spaniards, but you did not know, and neither did I realize except now, that he was a consummate farmer (as he was a consummate nationalist) – from 1892, he was already practicing the concept of what we now know as “Regenerative Agriculture” (RA) that was going to be advanced by organic farmer Robert Rodale in the 1980s yet. Rizal must have seen RA practices in his travels across the United States and in Europe. I am reminded now of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” and I quote: “Two roads diverged in the yellow woods / And I took the one less travelled by / And that has made all the difference.” At Talisay, Rizal made all the difference.

Jose Rizal – you believe in him as PH’s “National Hero.” He was also a national hero during his exile in Dapitan 1892-1896, in what we now call “Regenerative Agriculture.”

Here is Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org):

The 16-hectare (40-acre) estate in Talisay was purchased by Rizal for PhP4,000 after winning the “Reales Loterías Españolas de Filipinas” (English: Royal Spanish Lottery of the Philippines) two months after arriving in Dapitan, Zamboanga Del Norte. Rizal built houses (on) the site, started a farm, put up a school for boys, and built a hospital where he could practice medicine and treat the poor for free. For four years, he worked as a rural physician, farmer, merchant, inventor, painter, sculptor, archaeologist, linguist, teacher, architect, poet, biologist and environmentalist. His mother, Teodora Alonso, sisters and other relatives would later on come to live with him in the farm.

“In order to keep the farm under proper management, Dr Rizal designated one of his sisters, Trinidad, to look after the farm. After several years, Trinidad passed the farm's management to Fernando Eguía, one of Dr Rizal's students.” Thank you for caring and able sisters!

The Rizal family and relatives lived in that farm 800 km from Calamba, Laguna. It wasn’t the view – I surmise it was the fact that they were away from prying eyes and they were enjoying staying in the Talisay farm, with healthy food for the eyes (natural views) and food for the stomach (naturally grown fruits and vegetables).

Rizal was a much better farmer than millions of Filipino farmers today! Why? Because Rizal’s farming was natural, where modern Filipinos’ chemical farming is causing the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are worsening Climate Change! GHGs are invisible but their damages are visible – they assume the forms of very destructive “El Niño” and extremely damaging “La Niña.”

Not only terrible destruction, but chemical agriculture is very expensive, so I am not surprised that millions of Filipino farmers are poor!

Joseph Sebastian Javier writes (“What Rizal Did in Dapitan: Collecting Local Fauna, Establishing a Boarding School, and Healing the Sick,” undated, Esquire, esquiremag.ph):

The national hero’s activities in Dapitan prove that he was the quintessential Renaissance man.

My hero!@517

“IQs” – INQ, How About Sponsoring Multiple Intelligences (MI) As One Of Your Media Outlets, And Your Accomplishments Should Multiply A Million-Fold!

 

INQ. You, Philippine Daily Inquirer, has gotten your act together and multiplied yourself digitally. Genius! You have been “The country’s leading journalistic voice for more than 30 years” now.

INQ, now you’re talking about “4 Types Of Innovation” (lower image). The 4 Types of Innovation are: “Breakthrough Innovation, Sustaining Innovation, Basic Research, and Disruptive Innovation.” With my editor’s eye, I see “Basic Research” does not belong there, but I’m not complaining.

Rather, I am challenging INQ to explore and exploit the world of Multiple Intelligences (MI) to educate all Filipinos on the need for each one of us learning one’s own inborn intelligence, which is any of the following (from Harvard professor Howard Gardner’s now-accepted Theory of Multiple Intelligences):

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

10 IQs.

I propose that INQ create a new media, which I will tentatively call “IQs,” with me as, digitally, The Editor In Chief.

Who am I to be boldly doing this? One of your esteemed columnists, Cielito F Habito, knows me personally, as I sent a handful of my children to his and wife Pilar Relova-Habito’s Cahbriba Alternative School in Los Baños, Laguna, years ago. Cahbriba espoused Multiple Intelligences.

Neenah is now a dance innovator. Her Facebook page says, “Co-Creator at Back2Skool PH.” & “Dance Teacher & Core Team Of Dancehall Manila.”

Graciela is now a teacher at Potter’s Place School located in El Nido, Palawan. Potter’s Place is aiming to be another MI school.

The digital media “IQs” I am proposing will have as target audiences all the schools in the Philippines, from Grade School to Grad School – not to mention professionals already employed and wishing to improve their intellectual lives.

Such types of educational services are nowhere seen anywhere in the world – I have always been an original original.

For one, in 2011, I was chosen as “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” by the UP Los Baños Alumni Association – and, so far, I am the one-and-only such alumnus of century-old UPLB.

For another – and this is easily verifiable – the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) published 7 books of mine as its one-and-only Writer From Home, 2007-2014. PH Ex-Secretary of Agriculture William Dar was Director General of ICRISAT at that time.

I was The Editor In Chief who catapulted the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS) published by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines from 3-years late in 2000 to up-to-date in 2006, and included in the international elite list “ISI” (now “Web of Science”) in 2007!

ICRISAT and PJCS – those books and journal issues were all digital, by me.

That is all to say that my hands have digital wisdom & my mind has exceptional intelligence!@517

New Edu Sec Sonny Angara, “Welcome To The Chaos!” From Zara. To Clear The Intellectual Chaos, Let’s Wage A Nonfight Against Artificial Intelligence (AI) Using “Human/e Intelligences (HI),” Plural

Sir Sonny, it is easy to blame people for resorting to Artificial Intelligence (AI) for “their outputs” in any/non-intellectual fields – but, we are not being intelligent there! In the first place, they are guiltily happy there.

Instead, let us help everyone, from Grade School to Grad School, including the employed, unemployed, out-of-school – to learn where their individual geniuses lie, following the universally accepted theory of “Multiple Intelligences” (MI) by Harvard psychology professor Howard Gardner, outed in 1983 yet in his book “Frames Of Mind.”

What I am recommending to you, borrowing from MI, is for your department, Sir Sonny, to initiate the fast shift of interest from AI to MI by popularizing MI+1, the list of which is this:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”), added by FAH
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

The above HI list shows, not only indicates, that everybody can cultivate one’s own genius or smart from any of those 10 fields – and that is where DepEd can initially and immediately help by publishing more data and information on HI.

Yes, we can call CHEd’s media project, digital & print, “Frames Of Mine.” Online and in print, DepEd will champion 11 kinds of geniuses – and the Philippines will be the first genius country to champion human/e intelligences!

DepEd’s first targets are members of the Philippine Association of State Universities & Colleges (PASUC). Wikipedia says there are 102 PASUC members under the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) (WIKIPEDIA, en.wikipedia.org/wiki). (Special note: PASUC includes as member the Don Mariano Marcos State University, named after the grandfather of President BBM.)

Our slogan would be: “Human/e Intelligences.”

After an initial funding, the DepEd’s Human/e Media will be self-sustaining.

I am volunteering digitally as The Editor In Chief with my vast experience including:

(a)    Founding Editor of the 3 FORI publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat – 1975-1980.

(b)    The Editor In Chief of the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS) published by the Crop Science Society of the Philippines (CSSP) in Los Baños, 2000-2007. The PJCS was late by 3 years in its issue when I took over; when I got out, the journal was already in the international elite list called “ISI” (now “Web of Knowledge”). Digital speed & Quality always works for everybody!

(c)     Writer From Home (WFH) for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), 2007-2014. ICRISAT published 7 books of mine based on my writings.

I hereby confess:
Even my son is publicly selling the idea of AI – To each his own.

But as a stubborn father, I insist:

AI is self-satisfying.
HI is self-fulfilling.@517

“Fighting Pride” – PH Edu Sec Sonny Angara, We Need Not Worry About Artificial Intelligence (AI) As We Could Teach From Grade School To Grad School Human/e Intelligences (HI)!

In Forbes, Bernard Marr lists “The 15 Biggest Risks Of Artificial Intelligence” (02 June 2023, forbes.com). Forget the list; hereby, we Filipinos challenge the “Fighting Pride” at DepEd! (image from spin.ph). Sonny Angara, you survived coronavirus – with you as Sec Edu, we will triumph despite AI!

Sir Sonny, we cannot stop the conquest of the universe of intellectual convenience by Artificial Intelligence (AI), but we can start the victory of the universe of intellectual superiority – by teaching from Grade School to Grad School multiple intelligences (MI), a list of 9 smarts intellectualized by Harvard professor Howard Gardner, to which I have added a 10^th and now call the list “Human/e Intelligences” (HI).

In education, millions of Filipinos would rejoice if they discover that HI is within everyone’s richness of mind while AI remains within the reach of those who care only how to get moolah quick!

Sir Sonny – Teach from Grade School to Grad School (and out of school) a million times better and more joyfully? With HI, we can do it!

Sec Sonny, DepEd cannot ignore this news: “Filipino Workers Seen Most At Risk Of AI Takeover In Asean” (Ian Nicolas P Cigaral Inquirer.Net, business.inquirer.net):

Filipino workers are more at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) compared to their peers in the region unless the Philippines can shift to more knowledge-based services that mostly require human intelligence and skills, Amro (Asia) said. [AMRO is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO Asia)].

In short, AI is endangering the prospective economic benefits of our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). You cannot simply ignore this because your DepEd has this Vision:

We dream of Filipinos who passionately love their country and whose values and competencies enable them to realize their full potential and contribute meaningfully to building the nation.  As a learner-centered public institution, the Department of Education continuously improves itself to better serve its stakeholders.

And thus, Sec Sonny, it is now with your leadership that DepEd enables us Filipinos to “realize our full potential” so that we can all “contribute meaningfully to building the nation” stronger!

The bad news is ASEAN, not simply Philippine. AMRO says further:

“Given the relatively large size of the business process outsourcing service industry in the economy, the Philippines could face a greater risk of worker displacement – primarily those engaged in more routine work – as AI gradually reshapes ICT operations, unless it can move into more knowledge-based services.

Sec Sonny, I end this article with a quote from your DepEd website:

The Department of Education (DepEd) formulates, implements, and coordinates policies, plans, programs and projects in the areas of formal and non-formal basic education. It supervises all elementary and secondary education institutions, including alternative learning systems, both public and private…

Sec Sonny, our whole economic system is now challenged by AI –which challenges our whole educational system to rise above it. We Filipinos can defeat this virtual demon!@517

We Should Protect Artists From AI Misconduct – Better, We Should Discover More Human/e Intelligences (HI)

 As you can see in the image above, there is artificial intelligence (AI) misappropriating a human artwork: “Bini” has been copied with minimal changes and presented as original work by AI – as reported by Bini owner Art of Maku (Alyssa Fernandez, “Filipino Artist Raises Alarm On AI’s Role In Art, Advocates For Artists’ Rights” (16 July 2024, Inquirer.Net, pop.inquirer.net).

Thus, Ms Alyssa says: “In the contemporary art world, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked a heated debate regarding its ethical implications and impact on traditional artists.”

Ethics and impact: To parody a favorite song by Nat King Cole: “Bini a tear has to fall / But it’s not all in the game.” To be blunt about it, artificial intelligence is stealing from human creative intelligence!

I am writing from the prospective of a UP Los Baños (UPLB) graduate BSA major in Ag Edu, with the distinction of being the one-and-only “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” in the entire century that UP Los Baños has existed. Am I teaching you anything yet?

And now with AI disturbing the peace (and pieces) of our artists, here is my creative teaching advocacy:

If only to fight AI, teach Human/e Intelligences (HI) from Grade School to Grad School – so that each learner, young or old, may discover one’s genius residing in one’s young or old self.

My advocacy of HI is based on the theory of “Multiple Intelligences (MI)” by Harvard professor Howard Gardner. List below: Note that to the gardner’s list of MI 9, I have added “3. Creative Intelligence (Thinking Smart).”

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Creative Intelligence (“Thinking Smart”)
3. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
4. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
5. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
6. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
7. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
8. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
9. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
10. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

Image on top: AI is not creating art; it is simply copying art and modifying it a little; it may look more beautiful, but AI is still intellectual stealing! Or should I say robbery.

Again from Ms Alyssa:

The recent post by Art of Maku poignantly illustrates the frustrations and concerns of artists who find their work being appropriated and transformed by AI technologies, often without proper credit or compensation. This article delves into the issues raised by Art of Maku, shedding light on the broader implications for the art community.

I say, “Fight AI with HI!”  Let our schools help learners themselves discover where one’s particular genius lies. Let there be short courses on HI, even digital sessions.

For each learner, HI will be the most pleasant discovery of oneself by oneself!

And no more “Intelligent Quotient” tests! Intelligence is not only 1 but 10 intelligences; see above HI list again. With HI, “walang bubo” (“nobody’s dumb”) – except that the “dumb” one’s intelligence has not been discovered yet.

If we teachers are truly intelligent, we will help all students discover their own personal intelligence. The best is yet to be!@517

Sexuality Is In, Social-Mindedness Is Out, Regenerative Society Is Out! Painter’s Complaint, Pater’s Complaint, Portnoy’s Complaint

"Portnoy’s Complaint” was all about sexuality – no saving grace there.

“Painter’s Complaint” – Today, my son painter Paul Hilario uses Satire to awaken us Filipinos to help improve our society.

“Pater’s Complaint” – I creative writer have always tried to use Science to awaken the Filipino farmers into “Regenerative Agriculture” to be practiced to improve lives in villages.

06-31 July 2024, Paul Hilario has a solo painting exhibit at the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA); the NCCA building is at 633 General Luna Street in Intramuros, Manila. If you visit, watch out! It’s satire – with 14 paintings and 2 installations.

Laya Boquiren Gonzales, NCCA Curator, says of it:

Paul Hilario's solo exhibition offers a satirical exploration of a nation in decline. His visual allegories are thought-provoking meditations on the state and its governance. The artist prefers to wage his battles through symbols, which are enigmatic provocations that elicit contested responses from different people. The narrative of an ailing government echoes through our collective memory, a stark and urgent reminder of the cyclical pattern of inequity, violence, and patronage politics.

“A nation in decline” – My country the Philippines! I know. In my field alone, the practice of Chemical Agriculture continues to exhibit its overall sad results: increasing farmer poverty, increasing costs of foods, decreasing public health – increasing village destruction by Climate Change.

PH agriculture is destroying us!

The exhibit uses “satire –
“a way of criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way, especially in order to make a political point”– Cambridge Dictionary
“trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly”– Merriam-Webster
“artistic form … in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform.” britannica.com

Ergo, Paul Hilario’s “Ille Imperium” (Supreme Power) solo painting exhibit is saying, in effect:

“Wake up, Filipinos! You have the power – Do something, for a much better Philippines!”

That is to say, the visitor in Paul Hilario’s art exhibit is being told by the painter, if not so subtly, that s/he is the authority of herself/himself on what to contribute to help solve the numerous national problems of the Philippines.

That is to say, subtly, that our politicians and/or leaders are very wrong about what they are doing, and not doing!

I Pater Complaining am saying:

In Agriculture, we Filipinos are not quite aware of Regenerative Agriculture (RA) that is quite anti-Climate Change and pro-Primate Change – we primates should apply RA practices if only for RA’s twin major benefits: (1) It fights Climate Change, and (2) It fights farmer poverty.

In Leadership, we Filipinos are not socially aware of the lack of Vision of our Congress and Presidency – those people are only looking at patchwork solutions, not basic changes that would lead to national welfare!

Painter: “Admission is free. Then do something for society!”
Pater: “Admission of guilt is free. Then do something for your country!”@517

Frank A Hilario’s “Colonial Mentality” – What Would I Do Without The English Language I Love!?”

Someone – I will not identify him for a million dollars – just said to my face, via email a few minutes ago, that I have “Colonial Mentality” because I insist on the English language as my favored medium of communication, and neither Filipino (Tagalog-based) nor my native tongue Ilocano. My response: “Thank you!” 
(image from mnagacpsychosocial.blogspot.com)

I began to love English much with “The Philippine Readers,” a book series brainchilded by Filipino author, an Ilocano, Camilo Osias, once Senator. In Grade 4, I began to love English more when I received a grade of “87%” for writing in class an essay. (Nota bene: My father Dionisio reached only “Grade 2” and my mother Sixta reached only the Kartilla.)

My love for English – reading and learning – grew a thousand times starting 1953 at the townproper of my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan. The Rizal Junior College (RJC) high school that I attended, had an open library holding many, many books of American and British classics, with American monthly magazines Life, Look, Post, and the Reader’s Digest.

The RJC library opened the whole intellectual world to me. On Fridays, I would bring home at least 3 books to choose from to read while pasturing 2 carabaos – I would either read on top of one animal or let him loose and read under the shade of a tree. By the end of the day, I would have “finished” (read the parts I liked). And this is how I “educated” myself about the world outside the classroom.

1960-1965, I took my BSA major in Ag Edu from UP Los Baños, graduating with a grade of “2.36” where “1” was “Outstanding” and “3” was “Passed.” All English.

1974-1975, I was a copywriter of the Pacifica Publicity Bureau in Makati and learned much copywriting from Pacifica and the book Frames Of Mind by “Father of Advertising” David Ogilvy.

1975-1980, I was The Editor In Chief of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), and I fathered FORI’s 3 publications: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. Canopy, Sylvatrop and Habitat made FORI well-known and respected here and abroad.

2000-2007, I was The Editor In Chief of the Philippine Journal of Crop Science (PJCS), and I rescued the PJCS from being late 3 years, and then made the journal included in the international elite list called “ISI.” 1^st class digital editing.

From 2007 to 2014, I was a digital Writer From Home (WFH) for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and ICRISAT published 7 books of mine from my blogs. (You can ask for a copy from ICRISAT if you wish.)

In 2011, the UPLB Alumni Association voted me “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing,” the first – and one-and-only.

Since 2000, I have been a blogger and have since uploaded in my numerous blogs about 50,000 essays of different lengths, from 517 (like this one) to 50,000 words each. Self-taught blogger, for love of humanity.

Now, what good could I have done without the English language?!@517

Multiple Intelligences – “Nature Smart” Rotavator For Doubling Harvests And At The Same Time Halving Costs Of Production! FAH Says

Farmers must be learners too. Farmers, yes, everywhere and anywhere on Africa, Asia and the Americas, our cultivators must learn about American professor Howard Gardner’s 9 “Multiple Intelligences” (MI) and practice at the very least being “7. Nature Smart,” from among this alphabetical list of 9 MI:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
3. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
4. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
5. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
6. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
7. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
8. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
9. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Word Smart”).

Why is that?

Let me tell you about my personal experience of being “Nature Smart” sometime in 1965-66 (although 60 years ago, MI was not even a pigment of the imagination of the MI originator & thinker, as Mr Gardner’s book “Frames Of Mind” was published only in 1983 (Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org).

About naturalist intelligence, Ali Garbaex says (wikiHow, wikihow.com):

If you like being outdoors, caring for plants and animals, and observing the world around you, you might have a very strong naturalistic intelligence. There are many different ways individuals take in and learn information, with a unique combination of perceiving and sensing through the natural world being a characteristic of naturalistic intelligence.

If you cannot find a school or course or somebody to introduce you to the principles of MI, in the meantime, simply read the above list again, and you will have the excitement of having to sense the intelligence/s within yourself.

Like me, sometime in 1965-66, I was on our rice farm in Asingan, Pangasinan, when a large Howard Rotavator came by, engaged by my father “Lakay Disiong.” Thinking instinctively, recalling Edward H Faulkner’s logic in his books “Plowman’s Folly” and Soil Development, I told the operator to simply pass the rotavator over the field, setting the depth of cut to zero. I had sensed that thereby the blades of the rotavator will cut the weeds and soil into tiny pieces and mix them well together in one rotary motion – creating a very rich soil. That was not in the literature, but a little bird told me!
(image from kongskilde.com/us)

I must have “Naturalist Intelligence” because what I told the Howard operator, I did not learn at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) where I graduated with a BSA major in Ag Edu in 1965.

That instruction I gave to the operator made him secretly happy – our farmhand Enso Casasos told me many years later that the operator was smiling on one side of his face. Of course! The Howard tractor was using the minimum energy for operating because it was not digging!

But, as Enso later told me, decades later, he had been practicing what I shall now refer to as “Zero Rotavation” and outyielding his neighbor farmers, no matter if they followed everything they saw he did – they did not observe how Enso was using his rotavator to cultivate his ricefield.

Enso was practicing his MI “Nature Smart.” Intelligent farmer!@517

“Better Days.” Sec Sonny Angara, Here’s An Intriguing Thought, How We Can Bring Out In Every Filipino Student From The Elementary Grades To PhD – We Teach Each One How To Think Their Own Genius!

Sec Sonny Angara, here’s my suggestion on how to be Education Secretary excited and challenging: “Declare nationwide each student should be taught how to think.”
(images: top from Pinterest, pinterest.com, bottom from r.search.yahoo.com

Thinking is personal. There are many excellent teachers who should be able to teach any of the 9 multiple intelligences (MI) that Harvard professor Howard Gardner proposed in 1983 in his multi-thinking book Frames Of Mind (Basic Books, 2011) – and the world has since approved.

I know a PH couple who founded a school based on Multiple Intelligences: Cielito & Pilar Habito, the Cahbriba Alternative School in Los Baños next to their residence. My children Neenah, Edwin, and Graciela studied there, and they all loved it – Neenah became a favorite of the President & Principal, ie, Ms Pilar.

Here is my list of Multiple Intelligences:

1. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)
2. Existential Intelligence (“Life Smart”)
3. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)
4. Intrapersonal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)
5. Mathematical-Logical Intelligence (“Number/Reasoning Smart”)
6. Musical Intelligence (“Music Smart”)
7. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
8. Spatial Intelligence (“Image Smart”)
9. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence (“Words/Ideas Smart”).

That is to say, any elementary school child, high schooler, college student, even a PhD candidate would love to learn where and how s/he can excel and appreciate learning much more. Each student would learn how to think best in one’s own native intelligence!

Right in the Philippines, from above, we could learn from Ciel & Pilar Habito how to teach MI.

Somebody else wrote about them. ANN says, “The Habitos Wage A Silent Revolution In Laguna” (Author Not Named, 12 Nov 2001, PhilStar, philstar.com).

Ciel Habito is of course the ex-Director General of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). The couple learned directly from the original thinker of “Multiple Intelligences” when Ciel was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University.

Mr Sonny, I am myself a teacher – BSA major in Ag Edu 1965, UP Los Baños. I discovered my own personal intelligence – thus, in 2011, I was awarded “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” by the UPLB Alumni Association (UPLBAA) when Madecor President Elpidio L Rosario was UPLBAA President.

Mr Sonny, to start with, with some funding, I can write an interesting handbook on Multiple Intelligences for your beloved Department of Education (DepEd) to initially help everyone digest this intellectual food, to excite even the so-called dull students! With that handbook, we can excite private and public schools in the Philippines to teach MI.

There is a book, Multiple Intelligences Around the World, edited by JQ Chen, S Moran & H Gardner (published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley), “to show how Gardner's theory is applied in the international arena.” The contributors come from (alphabetically arranged): Argentina, Australia, China, Columbia, Denmark, England, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Philippines, Romania, Scotland, South Korea, and the United States.

With funding from the DepEd, I could write a book for Filipino educators to become smart themselves and teach Multiple Intelligences!@517

4th Of July 1946 – I Frank A Hilario Insist, This Is The Historically True Philippine Independence Day!

No, not 12 June 1898. A practitioner of my own concoction, think! Journalism (not simply Maria Ressa’s “Truth Journalism”), I insist:

The 4^th of July 1946 is the True Independence Day of my country the Philippines!

Think! PH President Emilio Aguinaldo’s “Declaration of Philippine Independence” dated 12 June 1896 recognized the presence in the islands of the “benevolent” United States of America. Here are pertinent and largely ignored parts of the story of Philippine Independence.
(image from Getty Images, gettyimages)

About the subject of Philippine Independence, Wikipedia says (en.wikipedia.org):

The outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898 brought Commodore George Dewey and the US Asiatic Squadron to Manila Bay, where they defeated the Spanish Asiatic fleet. The Philippine Revolution resumed in earnest, led by General Emilio Aguinaldo who established a revolutionary government. At the height of its military successes against Spain, the revolutionary government proclaimed independence on 12 June 1898.

The purpose of the proclamation, according to Wikipedia, was “to proclaim the sovereignty and independence of the Philippines from the colonial rule of the Spanish Empire.”

“From the colonial rule of the Spanish Empire” – Don’t forget: The Philippine revolution against Spain was in the midst of American military presence in the islands!

How strong was the Filipino rebels’ adherence to democratic ideals even as they welcomed the help of the Americans? Very, very strong. Here is proof:

In August 1916, the Jones Law, more formally known as the Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, was passed, promising independence to the Philippines once Filipinos were able to prove that they could govern themselves. No timetable was set, but once the United States declared war on Germany in World War I, Philippine political leaders offered a division of Filipinos to fight on the side of the United States.

“Offered a vision of Filipinos to fight on the side of the United States” – The brave and benevolent Filipinos!

The Americans were still in the Philippines when Aguinaldo declared Independence – so, the declaration was Independence from Spain and not Independence from the United States! Sheer logic.

Filipinos were given great leeway in running the government at that time, but once the Great War ended, the US government reexamined Philippine conditions and strengthened American control of the insular government. Filipinos sent regular independence missions to Washington to call for concrete steps towards independence, which were rebuffed by the prevailing Republican administrations.

On the 4^th of July 1946, US High Commissioner Paul McNutt signed the Treaty of Manila, establishing the independence of the Republic of the Philippines. Mr McNutt read US President Harry Truman’s “Proclamation of Independence of the Philippines.” Mr Truman withdrew all “rights of possession, supervision, jurisdiction, control or sovereignty” exercised by the US over the territory and people, and recognized the independence of the Philippines.

Personally, I Ilocano writer thank the US of A for bringing the English language to my country. For all its brilliance, English has opened my eyes seeing, and brain thinking, the best – Nobody can take that away from me!@517