Pinoy Media 9 – Wake Up Pinoy Journalists: “Marcos Condones Farmers’ Debts,” So Thank You, BBM, But 3 Million Farmers Are Still Poor!

From amazon.com (top image), “Farmers do it better” has 2 conflicting messages to me: (1) “Farmers do know more.” (2) “Farmers, please do it better!” If the farmers knew better, there would be zero poor farmers anywhere! Today, we learn from a farmer who knows better: Daisy Langenegger (lower image, Facebook page, facebook.com).

Good news/bad news. Alexis Romero says, “Marcos Condones Farmers’ Debts” (01 Oct 2024, PhilStar, philstar.com):

The government has condoned the debts of 3,527 agrarian reform beneficiaries in Tarlac amounting to P124.64 million as part of the implementation of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act signed by President Marcos last year.

So: 3,000 Agrarian farmers have no more debts, zero.
So: 3,000,000 Filipino farmers are still poor!

BBM is not paying attention to those 3M farmers economically classified as “poor” – and neither is Secretary of Agriculture Francis L Tiu Laurel Jr!

Now then,1 lady has 1 big lesson for those 2 big gentlemen. Here are the personal & pertinent words of lady organic farmer Daisy Langenegger in her Facebook sharing 28 Sept 2024:

“At Green Daisy heritage ecological farm, we persevere to be better and better farmers to make our rice crop resilient to the extreme growing climate condition and in bringing down the cost of rice farming by harnessing the innate power of our thriving  and balanced eco system.We gain by not having to buy our farming in puts and not spreading toxicity that harms the health of the land and people.”

Ms Daisy is wrong on 3 counts, must be “conditions,” “ecosystem” and “inputs.” Grammar only.
Ms Daisy is right where it counts – principles: (1) “harnessing the innate power of our thriving and balanced ecosystem… and (2) “not spreading toxicity.” As an agriculturist, I know that Chemical Agriculture (CA), the system practiced all over the Philippines, does not harness the power of the ecosystem – even as it spreads toxicity! With CA, unwittingly, each farmer becomes his own enemy.

So: CA is the major factor that keeps those 3 million Filipino farmers still poor!

What do we have to do now? I say, as an agriculturist and a conservationist, the DA must proclaim all over the land the necessary adoption/application of the 13 practices under Regenerative Agriculture (RA)! A more friendly term for it is Organic Agriculture (OA) – and I tell you OA is OK!

(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.

But we have a problem here – the Secretary of Agriculture neither believes nor advises RA to our farmers, even as these 13 RA practices would save millions of pesos for those millions of farmers:

And so I repeat my unsolicited advice: “Please, BBM, re-appoint William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture. Because he is himself a staunch believer in Regenerative Agriculture. We have to regenerate Philippine Agriculture!@517

Pinoy Media 8 – Let Us Help Our Farmers Gain A Wider View Of Their Poverty Situation! As Secretary Of Agriculture 2019=2022, William Dar Had That Perspective, But BBM Unceremoniously Replaced Him With Himself!

PH journalists – Here is a Facebook recorded situation where a farmer expresses his narrow view of his situation – as much/less as the leaders of PH Agriculture has been viewing the national agricultural situation since 2022 when Pres Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr unceremoniously replaced William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture and BBM pronounced his desire to reduce the price of rice.

Here is the Facebook sharing dated 30 Sept 2024 of Arnel Eusebio Bandian from a message by Fred Macapas dated 16 Sept 2020:

“If you are a farmer, pls help in sharing our sentiments. We need higher price(s) of palay and corn (so that we can recover our) farm inputs.”

Those 2 farmers are looking at the price of the product but not at the cost of production. They are assuming that they cannot change the cost of their growing rice and corn! A narrow view, sorry to say. Well, we have not been teaching our farmers some basic economics, at least to widen their view of economics.

The wider view is that they can change their farming in such a way that the cost of producing rice or corn is much, much lower than using chemical fertilizer – by using organic fertilizer. Basic economics: Lower total costs, higher total returns. Those farmers don’t know basic economics. And we should not be surprised – our agriculture leaders themselves don’t know!

In fact, the Pinoy farmer has a choice of 13 methods of “Organic Farming,” an alternative view of the methods under the concept of “Regenerative Agriculture” (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.

Regenerative Agriculture (RA) = Organic Agriculture (OA). Do our agriculture leaders know about RA? Probably not. If they do know, I don’t know why they are not talking about it, not prescribing it! OA is OK!

Whether your crop is rice (palay) or corn or tomato or some other crop, RA is godsent to farmers of all kinds – each of the 13 organic methods is cheaper than chemical farming. Lower costs, higher returns.

We need to educate the farmers on the economics of their farming, and we in media can help tremendously! Let us not be resistant to change ourselves!

And let us help our digital image workers correct their English; above, the lower image repeats the spelling mistake “resistence” that should read “resistance.” There should not be any resistance to change for the better!

I insist – PH media can most desirably help in improving the thinking of leaders of agriculture by pointing out the truth that those leaders need to widen their view. And BBM can very much improve the leadership at the DA by appointing Mr Dar as the next Secretary of Agriculture – now, today!@517

“Happy Farmer’s Day” – A Digital Magazine I Would Love Publishing, Dedicated To 3 Million Filipino Farmers In Poverty, To Help Bring About Their Prosperity

Here I am 11 days after my birthday (17-09-24), planning to do the writing, editing, and desktop publishing; I’m planning to be The Editor In Chief of a magazine for 3 million poor Filipino farmers: “Happy Farmer’s Day” (slogan: “Helping each farmer find joy daily”). Huh? Farmers finding joy daily – Impossible! Ah, the magazine will teach them extreme economics in agriculture, i.e., Very Low Costs-Very High Returns (VLC-VHR) farming. 
(image from vecteezy.com)

I have been myself a creative writer for 50 years now. Specially, I taught myself digital skills starting Innocents’ Day 1985. I started blogging in 2000; I have since blogged at least 50,000 essays since that year, starting with WordPress.com; I am now using Blogger.com. That tells you how passionate I am in my creative writing, which I now dedicate to Filipino farmers, especially the poor 3 million. You can say my first love is writing, which I started cultivating in high school yet reading the Reader’s Digest in Asingan, Pangasinan in the early 1950s.

I have the credentials, and the commitment, but I don’t have the cash. I am income-less right now, in fact for the last 10 years at least, sustained only in living by my children; so, I have to look for financing for that digital magazine – to start with, at least PhP 100,000. I will have one of my daughters as assistant, as right now I have bad ears.

“Happy Farmer’s Day” – The name signifies what it is all about –
happy for the work, manual & mechanical,
happy for the easy planting,
happy for the easy caring
happy for the heavy harvests,
happy for the healthy foods that those heavy harvests bring,
happy for the high incomes that result, and
happy for the villages that will now enjoy farming!

I decide to google for “Happy Farming” and I find only this, in Google Play; it’s a game (play.google.com):

“Happy Farming: Farm City Mania

“Dive into the best agricultural simulation games that will provide endless fun and immersive agrarian experiences. Build a profitable farm and enjoy your daily life!

“Have you ever found yourself curious about the life of a farmer? This game will give you the answer.

“Step into the shoes of a hard-working farmer, care for your animals, save and process, and sell to make money to feed your farm. Prepare to be busy as you have lots of fun and excitement!”

In the Philippines, if you haven’t heard, there are 3,000,000 (3 million) Filipino farmers who are officially classified as “poor” – and I know that that is not because they are lazy! It is because their farming is expensive: Very High Costs-Very Low Returns (VHC-VLR). To get those farmers out of poverty, they should practice farming that is described as Very Low Costs-Very High Returns (VLC-VHR)  - the very opposite of VHC-VLR.

The name of that kind of farming? Regenerative Agriculture. You regenerate the farm, you regenerate the farmer.@517

Pinoy Media 7 – You Mind Duterte, Guo, Quiboloy Etc, But You Don’t Mind The 3 Million Poor Filipino Farmers!

Today, 7 AM Saturday, 28 Sept 2024, I google as follows:

news "alice guo"
news "sara duterte"
news “quiboloy”
and I get these results: 300,000 for Alice Guo, 324,000 for Sara Duterte, and an astounding 11,400,000 for Quiboloy!

For "poor filpino farmers" I get only 31,000 results – almost 10 times less than Guo, 11 times less than Sara, and 40 times less than Quiboloy. The message I get is that Pinoy Media are very much interested in the sensational, and hardly interested in Filipino farmers who find life always challenging them – And there are 3 million of them!

Why are Pinoy Media not mediating for our 3 million Filipino farmers?
(bottom image from timetoast.com)

(1)   Not understanding agriculture is not a good reason – Pinoy Media should be able to understand what is poverty.

(2)   Not understanding the reasons for Farmer Poverty – instead, that should be an excellent reason for Pinoy Media to search for understanding!

(3)   Not knowing that there are 3 million Filipino farmers who are poor – all the more reason Pinoy Media should find out more!

All the numbers tell me the media are very much interested in the sensational and not much interested in the downtrodden.

The image above, from youtube.com, says:

Her FATHER is crying too!
Heck, her mother and brother are crying as well!
Crying because of poverty.

Don’t tell me the girl in the image does not look poor – you don’t have to look poor if you are poor.

Actually, 3 million poor Filipino farmers are not only 3 million – if each one has 3 other members in the family, then there are 9 million poor family members among poor Filipino farmers!

In any case, I write persistently about those poor farming families because I know that farming does not need to cause poverty and in fact can give rise to healthy and wealthy Filipino families!

The single & primary reason Filipino farmers are poor is that they practice Chemical Agriculture (CA); CA is Very High Costs and Very Low Returns (VHC-VLR). I insist that our farmers practice instead Regenerative Agriculture (RA); RA is Very Low Costs-Very High Returns (VLC-VHR)!

That’s the plain economics that I know about Filipino farming. I am an agriculturist (BSA major in Ag Educ, UP Los Baños 1965) – and that’s enough economics for me! The economics of farming of those 9 million Filipinos is bad enough for them!

So, what are our Pinoy Media waiting for in order to serve the poor Filipino farmers? No, I do not suggest that they practice negative journalism – their journalism must be what I call “THiNK! Journalism” that goes like this:

Is it True? If True,
is it Helpful? If Helpful,
is it Inspiring? If Inspiring,
is it Necessary? If Necessary,
is it Kind? THiNK!

Pinoy Media, THiNK! Journalism should make you think! Pinoy Media, I don’t mean for you to follow exactly my thinking, but I beg you to fight for those 3 million poor Filipino farmers – Beginning Now, Today!@517

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