In PH, What Else The PNA Must Do – Having Neglected Aggie Journalism!?

Where have journalists employed by government such as by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) been hiding all these months? I see the absence of PNA stories on PH Agriculture today, whose troubles of many years have been exacerbated by the Covid 19 lockdown. All have been adversely affected: individuals and institutions, corporations and crops. And the PNA has not been paying much attention!?

I don’t know since when did PNA start ignoring PH Agriculture. My attention is on the crops, because I am a farmer’s son as well as a journalist. And so I ask: “Where have all the government journalists gone?” About agriculture, I only come across the short items from the Communications Group of the Department of Agriculture (DA), hardly from the Philippine Information Agency, and none from the PNA.

Checking the website at https://www.pna.gov.ph, I find that the PNA has Business, Health and Sports as major news categories, but neither Agriculture nor Education!

I am an agriculturist and a teacher, Civil Service Professional Level, so the PNA disappoints me twice. And what about the millions of Filipino farmers who produce the foods for the country, not to mention the millions who consume such foods?

Says the PNA in its website:

The Philippine News Agency is a web-based newswire service of the Philippine government under the supervision of the News and Information Bureau (NIB) of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

Therefore, since I doubt that the PCO knows about the lack of full national coverage of the PNA, someone must inform President Rodrigo Duterte that the PCO is neglecting Agriculture, the biggest part of the citizenry of his country!

The biggest part of the citizenry of the Philippines has 5.56 million farms/holdings covering 7.19 M ha[1] (2012 data, PSA.gov.ph). With an average of 6 members of a family to a farm, that’s 33 million people whose interests are being neglected by the PNA.

Wake up, PNA! Asa ka pa! You should be serving the farmers, not only the businessmen and the athletes.

The PNA is not the only one guilty of neglecting to engage in a continuing communication of news and views on Philippine agriculture. The old and very private Philippine Agricultural Journalists (PAJ), founded more than 40 years ago, has not been continuously and conspicuously coming out with news and views on what is happening to the farming families all over the country, what is happening to the food supply and what is the market situation for each farm produce, etc. Wake up, PAJ! Isa ka pa!

The PNA celebrated its founding on 01 March – what is there to celebrate for?! Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos says, “Amid Pandemic, PNA Evolves Into ‘Healers, Hope Givers’[2],” PNA.gov.ph). Ms Ruth quotes NIB Director Virginia Arcilla-Agtay as saying, “Beyond our primary role as government media, we are healers and hope givers by being purposeful storytellers beyond basic reportage.”

Yes, Ms Virginia, but when will the PNA start reportage on Agriculture? We Filipinos cannot heal without food; our farmers do not have hope without income.@517


[1]https://psa.gov.ph/tags/agriculture-and-fisheries

[2]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132056?fbclid=IwAR3HHyZZGOf7_u6GX_yNjH8v-QZpKakZCNLZehqJXs_R3V_TGKPht0t1wHg

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