Beauty & Brains Farming

Why is it that no presidentiable is talking about PH Agriculture when it is the #1 industry in the Philippines and millions of people are directly dependent on it for their foods and finances? I have a for-my-eyes-only Word -file that says: There should be a survey on the Presidentiables’ individual Vision, Mission & Strategies, VMS, for the country. That will force them to come up with their own VMS package; then we can intelligently select! Above, my photo was taken on my extended ViewSonic 20 monitor on Tuesday, 24 April 2018, one of many Windows 10 accidental collages I was able to catch onscreen (on my Lenovo Core i7 laptop). Everything you see is part of the W10 collage, including day and date – I had to look into the image data to determine the year: Digital data doesn’t lie. Our choice for the next PH President cannot be personal – it must be based on what the candidates said in the past, and what they are saying now. The statements must not be scattered – they must ...

"Beyond Buzzwords: Transforming Philippine Agriculture” is Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’s new book, his Hello & Goodbye to the Department of Agriculture (DA) he has guided for 2.75 years. At the Agricultural Training Institute on Friday, 08 April, ANN says, “Sec. Dar Launches Book To Inspire Reforms In Phl Agriculture” (Author Not Named, 11 April 2012, Department of Agriculture, DA.gov.ph ). ANN is incorrect ; I know Mr Dar has inspired huge reforms within the DA, its 8 regular and 15 attached agencies! When PRRD appointed Mr Dar as Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, Mr Dar already had written out and which appeared in his column in The Manila Times that year, what he called The New Thinking For Agriculture with its 8 supporting paradigms (see my essay, “Frank A Hilario Investigates The Paradigms & Paradigm Shifts Of William Dar,” 27 Aug 2019, Ani Kita , Blogspot.com ). William Dar is a Man of Vision. (My visionary photo of William Dar taken 27 April...

Call To Change” is Maureen Kelsey’s Facebook page that has set me to thinking: “Why didn’t I think of that?!” Nonetheless, I’m glad it’s the “Opposite Sex.” A female thought of it first before a male shaped it in his head – I’ve been into “Climate Change” even before Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. “Ladies first” has never been this good! And it was another lady, my sister Brillita Hilario-Sindayen who saw it first, the image above that says: “Two Plants Can Save The World” – Meet Bamboo & Hemp. Grows Anywhere . Creates Jobs . Replaces Oil, Coal & Wood. When used in 50,000 products, it’s all good.” Being Filipino as well as WFH international science editor in (American) English in the last 22 years, I could not help but correct Ms Maureen’s text into this: “Two Plants Can Save The World” – Meet Bamboo & Hemp. Grow Anywhere . Create Jobs . Replace Oil, Coal & Wood. When used in 50,000 products, they’re all good.” (Grammar is also important.) What is most im...

With William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture, his leadership of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its numerous agencies has produced so many “buzzwords” as he calls them – concepts that he uses to successfully serve the DA as its Servant Leader. Mr Dar was speaking at the launch of his own book titled Beyond Buzzwords subtitled “Transforming Philippine Agriculture” at the Agricultural Training Institute in Quezon City on Friday, 08 April 2022. I have asked for a copy, and currently am waiting for the courier. Meanwhile, how to understand the works of the DA under Mr Dar – I have come up with the idea of, you guessed it: “ Amid Buzzwords ”! In my daily journalistic pursuit of knowledge bits for Communication for Village Development in the 21 st Century (CoViD21), concerning the DA, I have come across many of such buzzwords. Here is an incomplete, un-alphabetized list: 1.       New Thinking for Agriculture 2.       Industrial...

Filipino farmers know their champions. Watch the Kakampinks rally in Pampanga, which reported 220,000 pink admirers, and see San Simon, Pampanga farmers raising the hands of for-President Leni Robredo , a lawyer; and for-Vice President Francis “ Kiko” Pangilinan , a practicing farmer and knowledgeable of the ups-and-downs of PH’s #1 industry. I an agriculturist and a word warrior for village development, whom do you think I will vote for as Vice President? It was Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan who authored RA 11321, or the “Sagip Saka Act” signed into law on 17 April 2019 by PRRD. Subsequently, ANN said the Department of Agriculture (DA) under Secretary of Agriculture William Dar composed the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the law, the IRR signed 21 Oct 2019 (Author Not Named, 21 Oct 2019, Department of Agriculture , DA.gov.ph ). Mr Dar acknowledged the authors and sponsors of Sagip Saka led by Kiko Pangilinan, and said of it: Tamang-tama at meron na palang bata...

Happy Birthday, PH Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar ! Born 10 April 1953 makes you 69 years old today, Sunday, 2022. The number “69” is all about perspective , which you apply greatly – no wonder you are a gifted leader! All about the significance of “69” 61x9ine ( spin.com ) says: The true meaning of 69 is just because you’re right doesn’t mean I’m wrong. YOU JUST HAVEN’T SEEN LIFE FROM MY PERSPECTIVE. Turn the 6 upside down: it’s 9 but remains the same in a different perspective. I took the photograph above on 04 May 2018, a Windows 10 accidental collage, in my Lenovo laptop; my camera Panasonic FZ100. I took the image from my Windows 10 extended monitor, Mr Dar being the happy, colorful figure – yes the combined image hints at national leadership in agriculture for the good of households & families. For starters, Mr Dar is the Ultimate Servant Leader to me. He leads groups for their own good. I did not know him from Adam before I blogged about PhilRice Director San...

What onion farmers in Occidental Mindoro want, they don’t get – it stems from their own failure because they don’t give what the Department of Agriculture (DA) needs from them first: membership in a cooperative, to help them from planting to storage & marketing. (“Successful” image from YouTube.com ) The onion news is negative from ABS-CBN News by Dennis Datu whose conclusion is that the DA is not helping the farmers, while he ignores the explanation of Regional Director of DA MIMAROPA Antonio Gerundio (07 April 2022, “Mga Magsasaka Sa Occidental Mindoro Umaalma Sa Mababang Presyo Ng Sibuyas,” ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com ). As I am about to show you, that is journalism that is at best distractive, at worst, destructive. Mine is journalistic fact-finding mixed with fake-finding! Mr Datu says: Maraming magsasaka ang napapaiyak sa sibuyas, dahil sa kawalan umano ng tulong ng Department of Agriculture para mapataas ang presyo nito. Tila sinisi pa ng kagawaran sa MIMAROPA ang mg...