“2024 Was A ‘Perfect Storm’ For Agriculture” – DA Chief Francis Tiu Laurel Jr. That’s “A Perfect Excuse For Failure In PH Aggie Leadership!” – Frank A Hilario, UP Los Baños Alumnus, 1965

PH Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel Jr’s Christmas doleful message to all: “This year was full of challenges, from the El Niño, La Niña and the devastation of various pests. This year was a perfect storm for the agriculture sector” (26 Dec 2024, “2024 A ‘Perfect Storm’ For Agriculture – DA Chief” (Bella Cariaso, The Philippine Star philstar.com). That’s equivalent to saying, “I failed you as your Secretary of Agriculture!”

An agriculturist and observer since 1965, when I graduated with Ag Edu from UP Los Baños, turned media reader since at least the appearance of the Philippines Daily Inquirer in 1997, and an admirer of then-PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar 2019 until he was unceremoniously replaced by BBM in 2022 – without BBM declaring a new PH DA Vision and Mission especially in the light of Climate Change! Then PH got was a No-Vision Tiu Laurel Jr.

I say “Perfect Storm” is perfect only as an excuse for the failure of PH Tiu Laurel Jr’s aggie leadership since late 2023, or in the last 2 years – time enough time to plug the aggie loopholes if he knew what to do!

And the biggest loophole is? Sec Tiu Laurel Jr’s Lack of Vision for PH Agriculture! You cannot lead without knowing exactly where to go for the benefit of the people!

“I know our work will not end. We will face many challenges but I believe that we will overcome all of these, especially with our aim to harvest enough supply and bring food to the table of every Filipino family,” Mr Tiu Laurel said.

Unambitious aim – any Secretary of Agriculture could promise to “bring food to the table of every Filipino”!

Food as a problem for the family of a farmer is nothing compared to poverty despite the industry of Filipino farmers in the growing of crops, especially rice.

The Vision should at least be: “To rescue from poverty and bring prosperity to the table of every Filipino farming family”!

Yes! We Filipinos need a Secretary of Agriculture  who has Vision for all of PH Agriculture.

“I know our work will not end. We will face many challenges but I believe that we will overcome all of these, especially with our aim to harvest enough supply and bring food to the table of every Filipino family,” Mr Tiu Laurel said.

Ah, but you can “bring food to the table of every Filipino family” by importing! So, Mr Tiu Laurel’s ambition is not ambitious at all. What the Filipino farmers need most is to turn farming from a losing position to a winning proposition!

And you know what? The farmers have to regenerate their agriculture from a losing to a winning proposition. And we can regenerate our farming by appointing a Secretary of Agriculture who has the National Vision that includes “Prosperity for All Farmers.” And I know one man who can lead us to its fulfilment: William Dar.@517

 

Filipinos, If You Love Your Country, Don’t Just Sit There And Wish The Farmer Poverty Would Go Away! Me, I Wish BBM Would Reappoint William Dar As Secretary Of Agriculture – And Support His New Vision For PH Agriculture!

Now he knows he made a mistake – Pres Ferdinand BBM Marcos dismissing William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture in 2022: 2 years later and millions of our farmers are still poor, if not poorer!

The Manila Times has made a continuing mistake too – not having a separate media, or at least section, on PH Agriculture.

Above, from me this article, “Secretary William Dar Starts To Map The Chaos Of PH Agriculture” (Greenfields Journalism, blogspot.com) – but the Times has never started to fully, 100% map the chaos of Philippine Agriculture and help farmers rise from the disarray by at least dedicating a whole Times section on it!

To be fair, not a single one of PH’s digital media is dedicated to mapping PH Agriculture from Chaos to System, from Cultures to Symmetry.

Here is The Manila Times display online:

OPINION. NEWS. REGIONS. WORLD. BUSINESS. SPORTS. ENTERTAINMENT. LIFESTYLE. THE SUNDAY TIMES

Manila Times, how about putting “AGRICULTURE” as your first section in that list? That would be like you saying this time, “Merry Christmas to our millions of farmers!”

Did you know that 30% of PH labor force is in agriculture (custommapposter.com)?

“The concentration… of poverty in the country is found in the agriculture sector… The agriculture sector… has not been an effective engine of social growth and human development” (“Towards Liberation From Debts Of Filipino Farmers (2024),” Custommapposter, custommapposter.com).

And? How can the Times live with that?!

So, how about this time, Manila Times?
Let’s change the times!

Some 8 years ago, Manila Times’ digital pages itself, I was writing and following the story of PH Agriculture (see image above) under the inspiration of William Dar who became Secretary of Agriculture (Aug 2019). He called his leadership “The New Thinking For Agriculture” and comprised the following:paradigms that also make up the “new thinking” for agriculture. The eight paradigms are:

Modernization of agriculture;

Industrialization of agriculture;

Promotion of exports;

Farm consolidation;

Roadmap development;

Infrastructure development;

Higher budget and investments for agriculture; and

Legislative support.

Mr Dar’s leadership of PH Agriculture was groundbreaking, to say the least – but The Manila Times did not see it like that, and I was in no position to persuade media management to dedicate a new section for PH Farming. Mr Dar had taken me in as a “Writer From Home” to help propagate the new farming efforts nationwide.

This time, it’s different. I now foresee the need for farming with new farming efforts – Regenerative Agriculture (RA)!

So, I want to convince The Manila Times to open a daily page on PH Agriculture. Other columnists can continue with their agriculture, but I will focus on RA because it’s:

VLC=VHR – that is, Very Low Costs = Very High Returns.

Today’s farming formula is the exact opposite:

VHC=VLR: Very High Costs = Very Low Returns!

And yes, I am urging BBM to reappoint William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture!@517