Pinoy Media 6 – “Choose Truth?” PH Journalists, To Celebrate World News Day, We Go Beyond Truth! Let Me Introduce You To My “THiNK! Journalism“

Today, Thursday, 26 Sept 2024, I see on Facebook the above post with the message from World News Day – “Choose Truth.”

What about “World News Day”? The website says (World News Day, worldnewsday.org):

World News Day is a global initiative to draw public attention to the role that journalists play in providing trustworthy news and information that serves citizens and democracy. World News Day takes place annually on September 28.

It’s 26 September 2024 as I write this, that is, 9 days after my birthday, 17 Sept. As a writer, I did not always think like this:

World News Day demands: “Choose Truth.” My immediate reaction is this: “Why not Choose Kindness?!” Kindness will never get anybody into trouble!

World News Day is presented by the World Editors Forum, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and Daily Maverick’s Project Kontinuum. Sorry. I have no problem with “World News Day” but I do have a problem with the slogan, “Choose Truth.”

“Choose Truth” – That speaks of Truth Journalism, the kind that won PH Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021. Sorry, not my kind of peace prize.

Now then, you can say that Frank A Hilario is not going after the Nobel; rather, the prize he is after is the Novel THINK Prize – after his THiNK! Journalism creed.

“THiNK! Journalism” is very much unlike Maria Ressa’s or anyone else’s Truth Journalism – the latter starts and stops at “Truth”!

You see: Truth Journalism cannot even pass the Rotary 4-Way Test:

1.    Is it the truth?

2.    Is it fair to all concerned?

3.    Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4.    Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

My kind of journalism that I call ‘THiNK! Journalism” goes like this:

True? If True, is it
Helpful? If Helpful, is it
Inspiring? If Inspiring, is it
Necessary? If necessary, is it
Kind? THINK!
(bottom image from my collection)

To follow the World News Day’s mantra “Choose Truth” is to avoid being Helpful as well as being Inspiring and being Necessary and being Kind all at the same time! Not my kind of journalism.

Going on beyond today, I am pursuing Regenerative Agriculture (RA), that which is both Mother Nature-friendly and farmer-friendly. I can say RA is THINKing Agriculture:

True: RA requires minimum total costs, with no expensive chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides.
Helpful: RA requires no external inputs, only farmer crops, natural materials & methods.
Inspiring: RA encourages natural processes to proceed and produce healthy harvests of healthy foods.
Necessary: RA follows the laws of Mother Nature, all of them.
Kind: RA repays the farmer with maximum returns!

I hereby rename “Regenerative Agriculture” as “THiNK Agriculture” (TA) with these TA 13 practices:

(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.

THiNK!@517

Pinoy Media 5 – As A Crusading Agriculturist, I Hereby Challenge 13 Media In The Philippines To Come Out & Fight Against Poverty Of 03 Million Filipino Farmers!

PH media, Wake up! If you truly care for the Philippines, I recommend a safe topic for activism on paper, and/or in the digital world, and/or in public for a fight for national PH sanity –

Down Farmer Poverty!
Up Farmer Prosperity!

To fight poverty, “Media 13,” PH media, I beg 13 of you to individually and/or commonly convince the PH Department of Agriculture (DA) to adopt officially the 13 practices under the concept of Regenerative Agriculture (RA) and to assign PhP 13 million to the whole “Media 13 Program.” Note: Where “media” means is (1) “tool for communication” such as radio, tv; (2) “material or method for growing something” such as soil, system, and technology (my examples). Each of the 13 practices under RA contains the media for growing a crop – the soil plus the weeds and/or crop refuse.

I think of each of my “Media 13” as a medium reinforcing the positive, as do indeed the 13 practices under RA:

(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.

What about “13” as an unlucky number? Natalie Grice says in, “Why Do We Still Avoid The Number 13?” 13 June 2024, BBC, bbc.com): “(Cardiff University lecturer Dr Juliette Wood) believes it is essentially a media creation.” Media, you cannot be afraid of your own creation!

So, why don’t 13 media from the Philippines demand that the DA explain to the public why the department is silent about Regenerative Agriculture!

On the other hand, Pinoy media, let us convince the radical farmers and their sympathizers to demonstrate, not in the streets with placards and thereby endangering themselves physically – that’s not intelligent. But to demonstrate for what they need to rise from poverty, using science – that’s intelligent!
(Image sources: top, dreamstime.com; bottom ph.pinterest.com)

Think like this – Forget the expensive chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides (comprising Chemical Agriculture) that they have been using.

Instead, think of Very Low Costs-Very High Returns (VLC-VHR) farming, via Regenerative Agriculture. No, you have not heard of Regenerative Agriculture (RA), of course! Not even the heads of our PH Department of Agriculture (DA) want to talk about it! That tells us they are interested in their jobs, but not so much in serving the farmers, especially the poor!

From Poverty, the path to Prosperity is (I repeat from above): Very Low Costs with Very High Returns (VLC-VHR).

Let Media 13 call on the militants to demonstrate in the name of millions of poor Filipino farmers not against but to call the attention of the sleeping Philippine Rip Van Winkle-like Secretary of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr!

And how will the militants demonstrate their call for the PH government to elevate the farmers from poverty to prosperity? Good question!

Needed, MAN – Media Action Now!@517

Pinoy Media Interruption 2 – PH Media, To Learn More On Your Own, Try Bombarding Your Questions To The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI)

Ladies & gentlemen of PH media – Please keep in mind & heart the sad state of 3 million poor Filipino farmers, and you will continue to be inspired to find out more about, write for, campaign for them! Note: These institutions do not speak for those poor farmers: international IRRI, Philippines’ own PhilRice and University of the Philippines Los Baños! You are media, and you have the duty and the right to mediate for those farmers suffering from poverty! 
(image sources: top in.pinterest.com, bottom vrogue.co)

Know that there is now the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), which used to be the Bureau of Agricultural Extension (BAEx). Now, how has ATI fulfilled its mandate?

At its website, ATI (ati2.da.gov.ph) says:

(The) Agricultural Training Institute is the capacity(-)builder, knowledge bank and catalyst of the Philippine Agriculture and Fisheries extension system.

Nota bene: ATI is the (1) capacity-builder, (2) knowledge base and (3) catalyst of the agriculture & fisheries extension system.

“Knowledge base”? Here is the result of my search for ATI knowledge (as is, not italicized):
Philippines "Agricultural Training Institute" "cropping systems" "costs & returns"
Results? Zero!

That tells me that ATI is busy training farmers but not training them to count the costs and returns of farming! My question: Why not?!

I’m particularly disappointed that ATI is not concerned with costs & returns – ATI doesn’t know that that would tell anyone if the farming or fishing effort is economical or rewarding?

The ATI website says:

“The Institute continues to explore various areas of collaboration and partnership for its agricultural extension initiatives to ensure that the farmers and fishers can maximize the services designed to uplift their living conditions.”

“Designed to uplift their living conditions” is welcome – but that is short of “designed to uplift them from poverty to prosperity”!

ATI seems to be concentrating on “Rural-Based Organizations” (RBOs). The website says, “ATI also adopts holistic approaches and strategies to encourage engagement and commitment among the said stakeholders [RBOs] to bring about significant changes in the countryside.” The website does not explain what it means by “significant changes in the countryside.”

Elsewhere, there is the National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program (NUPAP). The website says:

“NUPAP is one of the banner programs of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to promote urban and peri-urban agriculture and other emerging agriculture practices through agricultural extension and training programs.”

Also:

“The ATI implements the ATIng Gulayan Community Garden where technical and financial assistance are provided to community gardens if they meet the basic requirements for the establishment of integrated urban agriculture gardens. Interested barangays with vacant spaces for setting up communal gardens either vertical or plot gardens can qualify for the assistance provided under the program. Likewise, homeowners’ associations, schools, and universities in urban areas can also be tapped to establish their vegetable gardens.”

Alas and alack! Nothing said about ATI training and/or helping farmers and gardeners to always win in their cost-and-returns efforts – low costs with high returns. I wonder why?!@517

Pinoy Media Interruption 1 – Neglect, The Aggie Extension People Are Not Doing Their Jobs! The Urgent Need To Regenerate Pinoy Media In Handling Matters Of Agriculture Remains

Education: Here is an Indian journalist, female, un/intentionally waking up media people of all sexes in all Asian countries – Anjana Nair, Group Editor, Agriculture Today (agriculturetoday.in). She writes on “The Changing Dynamics of Agri Journalism in India” (12 May 2023, “Agricultural Extension In South Asia,” Blog 199, aesanetwork.org) – which I see applies to worldwide aggie extension efforts/non-efforts!

Ms Anjana says:

“Agriculture Extension … means ‘to expand or extend’ the work of universities beyond the campus and into the neighbouring community. It is essentially meant to transmit the practices and knowledge in agriculture to the end user – the farmers – in a language that is suitable and clear to them.”

Whatever. I know that in the Philippines, aggie extension has been neglected all these years! I know; as an alumnus of the #1 aggie university of my country, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and I haven’t heard or read about UPLB extension efforts to the farmers. “UPLB, let me tell you that this is extremely important today because we have 2-3 million Filipino farmers who are classified poor!”

I found out just now, from a PH “Office Of The Municipal Agriculturist” (quezon-nviscaya.gov.ph):

The Office of the Municipal Agricultur(ist) is an agency of the Philippine government responsible for the promotion of the Agriculture & Fisheries development and growth. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture, provide(s) benefits of development to the poor, especially in the rural areas. (underscoring supplied)

Beautifully said. But where is that partnership? Very sad that the “benefits of development” have not reached the 2-3 million poor farmers all over the Philippines! I have neither heard of nor seen any national program to deliver science to the farmers for them to benefit from new or verified knowledge in agriculture.

I quote Ms Anjana again:

“Journalism is the systematic and reliable dissemination of public information, public opinion and public entertainment by modern mass communication media. Agricultural journalism is a specialized branch of journalism which exclusively deals with disseminating information gathered from different sources in a presentable format through various media, such as newspapers, periodicals, radio, TV, (I)nternet, advertising, and so on. The process is elaborate and entails several phases: receiving news, writing it up in the appropriate format, editing the content, and then reporting it through the relevant media. The content, most often will be supported by photographs, and dissemination happens through newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the internet. And as agriculture bloomed and matured, the branch of agriculture journalism has also diversified.”
(Images: top, can’tfindsourceanymore; bottom, sg.images.search.yahoo.com)

I say: “Diversified media, powerful – so little media efforts for and in favor of the farmers getting out of poverty!”

We have modern communication media – I note the ubiquitous cellphone today – but we have Rip Van Winkle-kinds of aggie extensionists in the universities or in DA offices or in the municipalities! Like: Why is the office of the Municipal Agricultural Officer (MAO) not media active in extension? MAOs, be active yourselves!@517

Pinoy Media 4 – PH Media People: We Need To And We Can Save 3 Million Filipino Farmers From Poverty, Our Welcome Tool Is? “Regenerative Journalism”!

Continuing, A Beautiful Hope to save some 3 million Filipino farmers from their poverty is via Regenerative Journalism (RJ). That is why I have so far come out with 3 new “Pinoy Media” articles in this old blog of mine; this is the 4^th  RJ article. No, we cannot hope for the PH Department of Agriculture (DA) to rescue those farmers from poverty because, since 2022, when Pres Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr appointed himself Secretary of Agriculture, unceremoniously easing out William Dar, the government’s priority is “low price of rice” for consumers and not considering “low costs with high returns” for farmers! BBM blotted out the “New Thinking for Agriculture” of Mr Dar.

The image above is from Victor Mine (vectormine.com), depicting “Regenerative agriculture and sustainable crops farming.” Sorry, the original whole image is not quite clear; none of the component images is clear – ah, that’s exactly how things stand up in the world of Regenerative Agriculture (RA) – “status malabo pa!” Status yet unclear!

If I remember right, I started writing earnestly about RA on 22 April 2019 (see my article “To Solve Climate Change, Look Beneath Your Feet – Jean-Paul Courtens” (Ctrl-Click this to get there: blogspot.com), but I have yet to read about RA from the DA or aggie institutions in the country, alphabetically now: IRRI, PhilRice, UP Los Baños (my alma mater). That tells me not a single agricultural institution in PH is interested in Very Low Costs-Very High Returns (VLC-VHR) agriculture, which describes RA. In that case, those institutions are all Rip Van Winkles sleeping 100 years on the job since UP Los Baños was founded in 1918. Wake up, Rip Van Winkles!

Nonetheless, I am sure Mr Mine’s list (suggested in the image above) is very different from my own, “Frank’s List” of practices of RA, which is this:

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.

Serendipitously, it so happens that I am watching on my double screen a slideshow of my own photographs of the day UP Los Baños celebrated its 100^th anniversary: 2018. A happy occasion. Also unhappy, as I see no signs, placards, or banners about caring for the farmers and improving their lives via modern agriculture.

By the way, mine is the above listing of 13 practices of Regenerative Agriculture; American gentleman farmer Robert Rodale originated the concept of “Regenerative Agriculture,” coming out with it sometime in 1989 or thereabouts (Rodale Institute, “The Original Principles of Regenerative Agriculture,” 14 June 2018, Rodale Institute, rodaleinstitute.org).

Pinoy Media people! We have a duty to the millions of poor Filipino farmers! We can do it – we don’t have to be experts in science, just practicing Regenerative Journalism – we simply ask the scientists to explain to the farmers the science of Regenerative Agriculture!@517

Pinoy Media 3 – Rappler, As PH Fightingest Journalists, How About Leading A PH Media Pack To Urge Millions Of Poor Filipino Farmers To Get Out Of Poverty On Their Own?

Read my title again – At first, it sounds impossible, right? Right! As a creative thinker, I say that if you are not challenged by the impossible, it is not a challenge at all!

My 3^rd attempt. Yes, I’m trying to convince PH media people to carry out a digital campaign that has been waged by none of PH media, individual or group of reporters: To get 3 million Filipino farmers out of poverty! President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr is not talking about it. All the more reason to pick up the cross and carry it!

I blogger am an independent journalist – we journalists should show we care about poverty. Especially about the millions of poor Filipino farmers who toil day and even night, and yet are rewarded with undeserved Very Low Returns from Very High Costs! Saving those millions from poverty is something we can do while we sit on our favorite chair – now, I’ m telling you!

The message to the farmers is simply this: “Low Costs, High Returns.” That, any farmer will understand easily. But we have to convince him to try it.

So we need a dedicated group of journalists, led by the fightingest and most-honored Rappler, to sell the idea of Regenerative Agriculture (RA), which comprises the following 13 practices:
(image from rappler.com)

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.

Any farmer can choose any of the 13 for her/his farming.

You or the farmers don’t have any idea about any of the 13? That’s why you should form a group dedicated to what I call “Regenerative Journalism” (Reg Journalism) and each of you becomes a Reg Journalist.

You need to form the group, so that you have the credibility to ask physically or digitallyabout any or all of the 13 RA practices from scientists in any of the following institutions : IRRI (located in Los Baños), PhilRice (Muñoz, Nueva Ecija), or UP Los Baños (Los Baños).

Remember, our current agriculture can be translated into this Economic Equation:

Very High Cost = Very Low Returns.

Repeat: BBM is talking only of low price of rice. And how do you get that except at the expense of farmers who have to deal with the high costs of growing rice! In that instance, BBM is not pro-farmer, only pro-rice consumer!

I just googled, and I see that American journalists are only starting to realize that RA is solution to Climate Change – they are not yet talking about Farmer Poverty.

Since nobody else is pro-farmer, let us PH journalists bind together and wage a communication campaign for Very Low Costs-Very High Returns Agriculture!

Campaigning with farmers to resolve their own poverty – Count me out – I have good thoughts but bad ears!@517

Pinoy Media 2 – Thinking Ahead For Pinoy Media To Preach The Gospel Of Regenerative Agriculture That Is Good For The Millions Of Poor Filipino Farmers!

To begin with, let us look at the concept of “regeneration” with the image above (from edwardlundwall.blogspot.com) – renewed, redeemed, restored. When we do any of the 13 practices under Regenerative Agriculture (RA) (see list below), Mother Nature is the one that does the regeneration, so the farmer’s field and crop are both renewed, redeemed and restored literally! (Thank you very much, Edward F Landwall! for the image.)

Pinoy Media – Let me call your would-be media campaign “Regenerative Journalism” (Reg Journ). This follows my earlier advice (20 Sept 2024, “Pinoy Media, Attention Please! Including The Fightingest Rappler, You Have Ignored 2M+ Filipino Farmers In Their Poverty!,” Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com).

Reg Journ – Pinoy media could band together for a project – to inform and encourage the millions of poor Filipino farmers to adopt any of the 13 practices under the concept of “Regenerative Agriculture.”

Suggestion to Pinoy media – for your journalists to learn more about Regenerative Agriculture (RA), first you form a committee, say “Journalists For Farmers Out-Of-Poverty Committee,” and discuss how this journalists’ poverty committee will go about this campaign from zero point.

If only digitally, you will need to listen to science experts from either IRRI (in Los Baños), or PhilRice (Muñoz, Nueva Ecija), or UP Los Baños (Los Baños), or all of the above, about these 13 practices belonging to Regenerative Agriculture:

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.

Nota bene: “Listening” to those science experts does not require that they be physically present within hearing distance – their talks (and your subsequent consultations with them), can and should be recorded digitally so that their advice can be repeated anytime without their physical presence. It is their knowledge that you require, not their bodily appearance.

Remember always: Each of those 13 –

(1) requires no chemical fertilizer because it restores the native fertility of the soil, which is more than enough;
(2) requires no chemical pesticide because the native fertility gives to the soil and crop the natural resilience to ward off pests and diseases;
(3) requires no or very little irrigation water;
(4) requires very little cost compared to current farming of any crop;
(5) requires very little expertise in farming, because once the planting has been done, Mother Nature takes over.

I just googled now and the World Economic Forum is saying (weforum.org):

“Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving the health of soil, which has been degraded by the use of heavy machinery, fertilizers and pesticides in intensive farming.”

To each his own. Regenerative Journalism should be easy because the journalist is expected to share information what science says, while the expert is expected to explain the science.

(If the journalist doesn’t understand anything, s/he should ask a scientist – or google for more information.)@517

Pinoy Media 1 – Attention Please! Including The Fightingest Rappler, You Have Ignored 2M+ Filipino Farmers In Their Poverty!

Reality: The fighting digital Philippine media have so far ignored the plight of millions of poor Filipino farmers by not featuring them and/or reporting on their sad plight for ages and ages.

Do Pinoy media care about farmer poverty? Not that I have read – and I am a digital hound; self-inspired as a son-of-a-farmer blogger since the year 2000.
(sources: top image from pace.org.ph, bottom from youtube.com)

Really: Should I be surprised with media apathy about the poor farmers? No. A blogger and digital hound in the last 25 years, I know that in the last 40 years, would you believe! – no one from so many PH media, and no one from PhilRice, neither from UP Los Baños, nor from IRRI, has come out for and/or managed a campaign local or national for farmers to practice Regenerative Agriculture (RA); they do not know that RA decreases much farming costs and increases much farming returns!?

I don’t know why they don’t know.

On his birthday, PH President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr himself did not talk about raising the millions of farmers from poverty to prosperity, only about “improved lives” (see my article, “Marcos’ Wish On His 67th Birthday 13 Sept 2024, ‘Improved Lives Of Filipino Farmers’ – Hilario’s Wish, ‘Raising Farmers From Poverty To Prosperity’ As An Ilocano Son Of A Farmer,” Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com).

We have to help farmers enjoy more than improved lives – they must prosper!

We need to think more, wider and higher.

Repeat: At the moment, not a single national or international institution in the Philippines has come out with a program on Regenerative Agriculture (RA) –
(1) not PCAARRD,
(2) not PhilRice,
(3) not IRRI, and
(4) not UP Los Baños.

I challenge those 4 big institutions in agriculture, national and international, to come out with at least one national program on RA!

Anyway, here I am, a UPLB alumnus, agriculturist (BSA major in Ag Edu 1965) – and I have been blogging about Regenerative Agriculture since at least 2019.

Why am I so in love with Regenerative Agriculture? I love it that RA
enriches the soil,
enriches the harvests,
enriches the farmers, as well as
enriches the consumers, as the food grown is naturally healthy.

Back to the media. Now then, I am calling on the PH digital publishing media to support a public campaign by its online pages for a regeneration of PH agriculture!

Yes, there was a Pinoy Media Congress organized by the ABS-CBN Corporate Communications for the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) held 25-26 July 2024 (news.abs-cbn.com).

“The event, organized by the ABS-CBN Corporate Communications, provided numerous networking opportunities, allowing educators to share insights and experiences, enhancing the overall learning experience.”

Nothing mentioned about the poor Filipino farmers!

As an independent thinker, I am challenging the fightingest Rappler to come out with its media program to help solve the poverty of millions of Filipino farmers. For a change – No bad words necessary, just positive promoting.
Wake up, PH media!@51

The Number “13” Gives Me A Crazy Idea – PH Exporting Rice To SEA Via 13 Practices Of Organic Regenerative Agriculture!

I am an Ilocano and just last Tuesday, Sept 17 we celebrated modestly my 84^th birthday with my wife Ampy, daughter Jennifer, the small but whole families of Daphne (husband Mark and son Kiko), of son Paul Hilario (wife Celeste, daughter Yja & son Kulas) – with humble food: a little Solo Selecta Rocky Road box, soft drinks, some spaghetti, Domino pizza – with big appetites!

Right now, I wake up in the middle of the night of 18-19 September (it’s 1:46 AM as I look at the bottom of my extension monitor) with this urge to write all this, with the inspiration of the number “13,” those practices belonging to “Organic Regenerative Agriculture” in my list:

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

13 Organics! Afraid of 13? Here is enlightening text from the source of the above 5 images of 13 – “Mysticism Meets Mathematics: What Does The Number 13 Mean Spiritually?” (Planet Numerology, planetnumerology.com):

The number 13 holds a potent vibration in spiritual circles, often shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Across various cultures and religions, this digit has been linked to transformation, rebirth, and divine feminine energy. While many fear its association with bad luck, others see it as a symbol of change and growth. Spiritually, understanding the essence of 13 can provide a deeper insight into the universe’s mystic rhythms.

The 13 in my list of ORA above came naturally; I did not plan it – but now, as the above source says, I see that ORA is “a symbol of change and growth.” If you look at the list of 13 ORA, they are not “mystic” – they are natural things. Mother Nature things.

And I, an Ilocano, I am sure another Ilocano as Secretary of Agriculture would approve it: William Dar. He knew poverty when he was little – thus, his parents could not afford to send him to college – fortunately, his uncle did, willingly. Similarly, we need willing minds and hands to get the Philippines from rice importer to rice exporter to all the countries of the SEA – Southeast Asia!

And how do we begin all that? With President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr returning William Dar Secretary of Agriculture! I know Mr Dar believes in the wisdom of Regenerative Agriculture, and he is an Ilocano who has known poverty when he was young. We need his “New Thinking for Agriculture” to solve the poverty of millions of Filipino farmers! And PH to sell organic rice to Southeast Asia!

I repeat: The Regenerative Agriculture “13” is good for transformation and rebirth. Instead of bad luck, “13” is a symbol of change and growth. It reflects Mother Nature’s rhythms. The call is for organic regenerative agriculture (ORA) – let’s go ORA ahora!@517

DA’s Agri-Puhunan Program (APP) Vs FAH’s Agri-Sensya Program (ASP) – Subsidy Vs Science To Enrich Farmers!

On his birthday 13 Sept 2024, ANN says PH Pres Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr launched at Guimba in Nueva Ecija a program “aimed at assisting rice farmer-members of agricultural cooperatives across 1.2 million hectares nationwide” (Author Not Named, 13 Sept 2024, “President Marcos Unveils DA’s Agri-Puhunan Program, Targeting 1.2 Million Hectares With Low-Cost Credit And Market Support,” DA, da.gov.ph).

Subsidies. The APP needs billions upon billions of pesos to provide all the millions of poor farmers with subsidies. PH cannot afford all that!
(image from gov.capital)

Like I said earlier (see my article “Marcos’ Wish On His 67th Birthday 13 Sept 2024, “Improved Lives Of Filipino Farmers” – Hilario’s Wish, “Raising Farmers From Poverty To Prosperity” As An Ilocano Son Of A Farmer,” 15 Sept 2024, Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages (ComDev2), blogspot.com), the DA’s APP is a “Survival Program” and FAH’s is Agri-Sensya Program (ASP), a “Revival Program.” Survive, able to get by – Revive, via Science, able to bring back to health, improve life. With ASP, our farmers not only survive but surmount their poverty and prosper with help of science while employing their energies.

According to Statista, 2.37 million Filipino farmers were poor in 2021 (statista.com). Subsidies: When will the APP reach those millions of poor farmers, and how will it raise those billions upon billions of pesos needed to help them?

At any rate, even assuming that the DA can raise the billions upon billions of pesos needed, the farmers will still be burdened by the high costs of inputs – expensive fertilizers and pesticides.

An Ilocano, I think in terms of inut (thrift), and so I think in terms of the science called Regenerative Agriculture (RA). Because RA is Ilocano-like low-cost, it will eliminate the billions upon billions of pesos of inputs and replace them with inexpensive inputs, as suggested by this RA list of science:

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.

Although I am not an economist, I think that to finance those 13 practices for millions of Filipino farmers would not require PhP 130 billion but only PhP 130 million to disseminate the regenerative science to farmers nationwide!

That’s why I wrote earlier, “Marcos’ Wish On His 67th Birthday 13 Sept 2024, “Improved Lives Of Filipino Farmers” – Hilario’s Wish, “Raising Farmers From Poverty To Prosperity” As An Ilocano Son Of A Farmer” (15 Sept 2024, Communication For Development Of Vibrant Villages, blogspot.com),

I am still dreaming that I will celebrate my birthday this coming Tuesday with a conscience-stricken (and science-driven) PH Department of Agriculture. If my dream is to come true, BBM will have to return William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture because it is only he among the many appointed DA heads who has the necessary Vision and Mission to lead the Filipino farmers from Poverty to Prosperity! Science-revived DA!@517

Marcos’ Wish On His 67th Birthday 13 Sept 2024, “Improved Lives Of Filipino Farmers” – Hilario’s Wish, “Raising Farmers From Poverty To Prosperity” As An Ilocano Son Of A Farmer

To each his own? I can imagine Zacarian Sarao happily writing his report “Marcos’ Wish On His Birthday: Improved Lives Of Filipino Farmers” (13 Sept 2024, Inquirer.Net, newsinfo.inquirer.net), on the launching of the “Agri Puhunan at Pantawid” (APP) program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Nueva Ecija. Pres Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr was 67 years old that Friday that he launched the APP.

BBM said, as translated by Mr Sarao: “(For) the entire agricultural system, my birthday wish, is to develop the agricultural sector so that the lives of every farmer, (his) family, and every Filipino can be better.”

“Can be better” – I note that.

Mr Sarao says:

“The APP program aims to assist rice farmer-members of agricultural cooperatives tilling 1.2 million hectares of land nationwide.

“One of its goals is to raise farmers’ productivity and income by providing low-cost credit, financial assistance, and a ready market for their harvests as it offers credit facilities to rice farmers and cooperatives for 50,000 hectares of land during the dry cropping season from 2024 to 2025.”

I note the emphasis on coops for extending farmer assistances under the APP: (1) low-cost credit, (2) financial assistance, (3) ready market for the produce of rice farmers and cooperatives for 50,000 ha during the dry cropping season from 2024 to 2025.

Specifically, a farmer planting rice on 1 ha will receive a net allowance of PhP58,000 – which includes a subsistence allowance of PhP 32,000 distributed over 4 months.

Now then, congratulations BBM on the DA’s program “Agri Puhunan at Pantawid” (Agri Capital & Sustenance – my translation).

However: “Pantawid” is meant only for survival, and is not meant to help the poor rice farmers rise from poverty to prosperity! To improve their lives from poor to rich, they will need to do 2 things simultaneously:

(1)   reduce their total cost of production

(2)   multiply their harvests and therefore their returns.

And they cannot do any of the two, no matter how hard they try, if they continue using expensive chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Our Filipino farmers must graduate to Regenerative Agriculture (RA), that which requires Low Costs and rewards the farmer with High Returns.

Is RA a foreign idea? Surely the name, but our farmers are familiar with RA practices (my numbering and alphabetization): 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; and 13, Trash Mulching.

Regenerative Agriculture practices are not really hard to comprehend. The application of those RA practices would revitalize agriculture all over the Philippines arising from their very low costs that result in very high returns – and zero damage to the environment.

RA is my strong “Pampasigla (Revival) Program” vs the weak DA Pantawid (Survival) Program – and we can see the un/happy results in only 1 cropping season!@517

What’s Good In “Friday The 13th”?

It’s Friday The 13^th of September 2024! Because my 84^th birthday is coming up in a very, very few days, today I ask: “What’s good in Friday The 13^th?” And the google results I get is equivalent to this one-word answer “None!”

Today is Friday, The 13^th of September 2024, and it is just a few days before my 84^th birthday, and that’s Good – in fact, it’s Excellent, thank God!

If you can’t find something good in today, read in silence the “Morning Prayer” above shared on Facebook today, Friday The 13^th, by Evangeline Mariano.

About “Friday The 13^th,” Wikipedia says (en.wikipedia.org):

Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. It occurs when the 13th day of the month in the Gregorian calendar falls on a Friday, which happens at least once every year but can occur up to three times in the same year. For example, 2015 had a Friday the 13th in February, March, and November, which will happen again in 2026. Leap years that begin on Sunday (i.e. that follow Dominical Letter AG) such as 2012 and 2040, also have 3 Friday the 13ths in January, April and July. 2017 through 2020 had two Friday the 13ths, as did 2023; 2016, 2021 and 2022 had just one Friday the 13th, as will 2025, 2027, and 2028; 2024 will have two Friday the 13ths.

The 2^nd Friday the 13^th of 2024 will occur in December, 3 months from now.

Again, from Wikipedia, on the “Unluckiness Of 13”:

… The unlucky nature of the number "13" is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla. The trickster god Loki, who was not invited, arrived as the 13th guest, and arranged for Höðr to shoot Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. ... Balder died, and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day. This major event in Norse mythology caused the number 13 to be considered unlucky.

It is possible that the publication in 1907 of TW Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth contributed to popularizing the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.

“Norse myth.” Wikipedia says:

Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period.

Are we Catholics exempted from Friday the 13^th “unfortunateness”? Don’t forget “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci. How many were present at the last supper before Christ’s crucifixion? 13.

The superstition seems to relate to various things, like the story of Jesus' Last Supper and crucifixion in which there were 13 individuals present in the Upper Room on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday, the night before his death on Good Friday.

Well, as a Catholic, today, Friday The 13^th of September 2024 is Good Friday! What else can it be? I’m alive, and that’s Good!@517

My September Birthday Wish – William Dar Back As PH Secretary Of Agriculture!

September is my birthmonth. Considering millions, plural, of Filipino farmers who remain poor, and considering 2 prior appointees as Agri Sec who have so far failed the farmers, I declare we need an Agri Sec who has a National Vision, Mission & Strategy – the Strategy to fulfil that Mission to bring that Vision to life. None other than William Dar – he who was abruptly interrupted when he had started right and was doing well, the fact being beyond the comprehension of the PH President!

Gumamela Celes Bejarin says when Pres Rodrigo R Duterte appointed him as Agri Sec in 2019, Mr Dar came in with his (“Dar Advocates Strategic, Sustained Investment In Agri For Sustainable, Inclusive Growth” (DA, da.gov.ph):

New Thinking for Agriculture, a science-based and inclusive development strategy built around eight paradigms, namely, 1) modernization, 2) industrialization, 3) promotion of exports; 4) farm consolidation, 5) infrastructure development, 6) roadmap development, 7) higher budget and investments, and 8) legislative support.

Unfortunately, Mr Dar was rudely interrupted and that Vision dimmed.

The World Bank believes in Mr Dar; it says, “Philippines: Vibrant Agriculture is Key to Faster Recovery and Poverty Reduction” (09 Sept 2020, World Bank, worldbank.org), quoting Mr Dar as saying:

Our vision is a food-secure and resilient Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk. Realizing this vision will require (us) to continuously empower farmers, fisherfolk, agricultural entrepreneurs, and the private sector to increase agricultural productivity and profitability…

The World Bank report also says:

“The report… part of World Bank support to the Department of Agriculture’s ‘New Thinking’ in agricultural development, suggests shifting… towards improving the overall resilience, competitiveness, and sustainability of the rural sector.”

The immediate past PH Secretary of Agriculture failed the Filipino people; the current Agri Sec has so far failed similarly.

The World Bank report also says:

“In the past, spending has gone mostly toward price supports for selected crops and goods, as well as subsidies on inputs such as fertilizer, planting materials, and machines. Global experience shows that while ensuring the availability of key inputs remain important, reorienting significant public spending toward investments in public goods – including research and development (R&D), infrastructure, innovation systems, market information systems, and biosecurity systems—results in faster poverty reduction and greater productivity gains through an overall modernization of agriculture.”

What are also important? The World Bank says, “…Research and development (R&D), infrastructure, innovation systems, market information systems, and biosecurity systems” are also necessary.

Who can understand all that except an Agri Sec who has local and international experiences in leadership – followers starting from the bottom? No other than Mr Dar. He was the Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India, who led ICRISAT, from also-ran among the 15 international agricultural agencies under the CGIAR Group, to the top – Mr Dar was “rewarded” by keeping him ICRISAT head for 15 years (3 terms), 2000-2014!

With Mr Dar back as Agri Sec, we have an achiever with a New Thinking for the advancement of agriculture in the Philippines!@517