ASA KA PA!

Is the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) ready to fulfill its own nationwide agricultural responsibilities once all kinds of quarantines are down? Yes, under the leadership and planning-ahead head of Secretary William Dar. Never. In my 20 years of blogging, after thousands upon thousands of short & long essays published online, I never wrote in favor of an advertisement – until now. I am looking at the Facebook ad of CitizenWatch Philippines with the headline, “Public And Private Partnership Is The Key Towards Sustainable Development” (upper image above). And the lock to open it today is to end the lockdown! CitizenWatch is saying: We call on the government to work with the private sector in creating sustainable initiatives that will fortify a future-proofed Philippines beyond this pandemic. "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country [1] " – Charles E Weller. Today, we must love our country, all of it!  Now is the time for al...

We Filipinos celebrate 500 years of Christianity today Wednesday, 31 March 2021, Christianity brought to pagans by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailing the seas for Spain. The historical question is: Where was the first Holy Mass celebrated: “Limasawa” (in Leyte) or “Mazaua” (in Butuan)? Catholic priest Fr Joesilo C Amalla has just published the book (above), An Island They Called Mazaua, that argues the island of “Mazaua” in Butuan is the “true site of first Holy Mass in the Philippines [1] ”  and not “Limasawa” in Leyte (ANN, 07 January 2021, Manila Times ). The declaration and discussion are made by Butuan-based Fr Amalla in his 644-page book. Among other things, he writes: The truth is that the prevailing state- and church-affirmation and multiple reaffirmations of the island of Limasawa as the site of that first Holy Mass have no factual, historical and geographic (bases) whatsoever nor any shred of evidentiary support from cartographic studies, navigational in...

Belated “Happy Birthday,” Mr President! (28 March 2021). Sorry to spoil your birthday, but the World Bank has spoken: “PHL Reliance On Prolonged Lockdowns Caused Economic Deterioration – WB [1] ” ( Louise Maureen Simeon , 27 March 2021, The Philippine Star ). Carolina Figueroa-Geron , who shared that on Facebook; I read somewhere someone's wishes, “May our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten our darkness! God bless us!” Miss Louise quotes the World Bank as saying: The Philippines relied more on prolonged restrictions on mobility rather than an effective test-based strategy. Countries with greater quarterly growth contraction in 2020 had higher infection rates, imposed more stringent mobility restrictions, had more highly indebted governments and were more dependent on earnings from tourism. Because of mass testing, mobility restrictions were not as severe, resulting in gross domestic product growth for Vietnam (2.9 percent), China (2.3 percent) and Laos (0.4 percent) in 2020. Cambodi...

How should we measure the Filipino woman’s role in PH Agriculture? In one word, significant . But if you isolate it, not! From Cagayan De Oro City, JC Anito from the Department of Agriculture (DA) RFO X reports: “DA NorMin Takes Part In 2021 Nat'l. Women's Month Celebration” (Facebook sharing): “(DA-10) took part in the Serbisyo Para Kay Juana National Convergence in celebration of the Women’s Month in Cagayan de Oro City.” (“Juana” is any PH female, from male counterpart “Juan.”) On Thursday, 25 March, DA X distributed 1,020 packets of 5-in-1 assorted vegetable seeds totaling P 132,600 in three variants of culinary purposes: pinakbet, chopsuey , and sinigang, to the participants. JC did not include the names of vegetables included in each packet, but it’s the giving that matters, not the gift. Receivers of the free seeds included women’s organizations, farmers, solo parents, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, micro, small & medium enterprises, indigenous ...

What you did yesterday, in Manila Saturday, 27 March 2021, was switch off the lights for 1 hour, 8:30 to 9:30 PM. I have another non-conformist, earth-shaking idea: Not “Turn off your lights” but “Turn on your power!” (spinning world image [1] from Dreamstime.com) Switching off the light for 1 hour 1 day 1 year – that’s saving gigawatts of electrical energy worldwide. We Earthlings can do much better than that – save on power every time, everywhere! That’s what I call “ Earth Power.” To be celebrated by everyone even in broad daylight during the whole year. Since I am an Agriculturist, let me show you how power works in Agriculture – there is Power from Knowledge ! (1)    Power from Coops – We have the farmer as a member of a cooperative that can assist him in many ways. The loans are available at affordable interests – the loan sharks will then lose their power! Additionally, the coop will show extra power to the farmer in avoiding expenses. ( 2)    P...

  Bayanihan – The above image shows the earliest national heroes of the Philippines. Today, I’m calling on village heroes in communication for development, journalists out to move people to change the lives in the villages one good deed at a time! People working together to help their community, not just themselves.  (Bayanihan image [1] from Nationalnews.com ) Why don’t we have in the Philippines digital and print media field journalists & columnists all-out supporting the small-scale and large-scale efforts of government to solve the problems of Agriculture and move it forward to bring favorable & sustainable changes to the lives of farmers and fishers, without exacting irreparable damage to the environment? I am not going to identify the journalists who write nothing but to try to prove that some government officials are lying, or worse. With your journalism dedicated 100% to anti-bad government, you have nothing left for pro-good government. Not only that – you...

Writing & blogging the “’Nescafé Plan’ Wins PH 2021 Grand Anvil Award – Nescafé Thanks DA, LandBank, GIZ [1] "(25 March 2021, Asa Ka Pa! ) based on real events, inspired in me an idea, what I now call “Star Community Awards” covering PH Agriculture under the leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar. Question: Is Mr Dar going to lead PH  out of The Twilight Zone? Yes! I have the greatest faith in him with his much varied experiences leading local and international agencies in science. Consider: For 15 long years, he was Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India. Mr Dar team-captained ICRISAT f rom dead last  to #1 among the 15 international agricultural research centers under CGIAR. Mr Dar’s ICRISAT slogan was “Science with a human face.” Today, I propose a national project for the Philippine Agricultural Journalists (PAJ), adopting a similar slogan – “Science with a community face” – for...

Nescafé’s concern for coffee farmers is what I am concerned about today, with Nescafé Philippines winning the 2021 “Grand Anvil Award” at the “56 th Anvil Awards” virtual ceremonies on 19 February 2021, according to ANN [1]  (Author Not Named, 04 March 2021, Business.inquirer.net ). The Anvil Awards is a yearly project of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP). The panel of jurors for this year’s awards was chaired by former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio Jr . The PRSP was founded by Jose A Carpio [ 2] ,  who defined public relations as “doing good and telling it well” (Luis J Morales, 10 September 2018, “PR Then And Now: Doing Good And Telling It Well,” BusinessMirror.com.ph ). That is as articulate as you can get! This year’s Anvil winner, “Nescafé Plan Project Coffee+,” is actively assisting in meeting the production, postharvest processing & marketing needs of 1,500 coffee farmers of Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao. ...

Metaphorically, “Let there be Light!” DoST said, and there was Fish. Materialistically, this time, the Department of Science & Technology (DoST) is revolutionizing Aquaculture in the Philippines by setting up and launching a solar-powered, intensive aquaculture setup for tilapia, milkfish and white shrimp in Roxas, Oriental Mindoro.  We learn that from Charissa Luci-Atienza ’s report, “First-Of-Its-Kind Aquaculture Facility Launched In Oriental Mindoro – DoST [1] , ” 21 March 2021, Manila Bulletin ). (lower image [2] from Solartility.com ) The solar-powered aquaculture facility, launched in Marc h [3] in Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, was funded under DoST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program “to encourage the industry to adopt smart aquaculture farming systems” to produce more, cost less, and compete better in the market. Owner of the facility is Agritektura Enterprises . The whole facility can grow 1,500 tilapia breeders, each of which can produce 500 fingerlings p...

On Facebook, via National Economic & Development Authority (NEDA), the gentlemen and ladies who prepared the 332-page   Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 (downloadable as pdf), are asking for feedback, and so as a self-assumed (if self-assured) Crusader for Farmers’ Progress, after my perusal, these are what I have to say: (1)    The Vision is Excellent. “Metatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay (strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life for all.” (2)    The Strategies are Well-Conceived: “Malasakit” (referring to government Concern for the people), “Pagbabago” (Social Transformation) and “Patuloy na Pag-unlad” (Continuing Progress) (the English translations are mine). (3)    The Goal is Brilliant as well as Complete. “The Goal is to lay down the foundation for inclusive growth, a high trust and resilient society, and a globally competitive knowledge economy.” Three time’s a charm! Now I want to concentrate on the Goal, t...

Ha. On Facebook, the National Economic & Development Authority (NEDA), who directed the preparation of the Updated Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, is asking for feedback. As a Filipino, I have downloaded the pdf, read it with the Editor In Chief in me, and these are what I have to say in summary: (1)  Vision is Excellent. “Metatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay (strongly rooted, comfortable, and secure life for all).” (2)  Strategies are Well-Conceived: “Malasakit” (Concern for the people), “Pagbabago” (Transformation) and “Patuloy na Pag-unlad” (Continuing Progress) (English translations mine). (3)  Goal is Brilliant as well as Complete. “The Goal is to lay down the foundation for inclusive growth, a high trust and resilient society, and a globally competitive knowledge economy.” Excellent vision, well-conceived strategies, brilliant & complete goal – yet, even at 332 digital pages, The Plan is incomplete! It’s the lack in  Methodology . ...