THiNK Journalism

First, the official magnificent dreams: To fight climate change, to plant 1,000,000 trees (1 million) – Philippines 1,000,000,000 trees (1 billion) – New Zealand 1,000,000,000,000 trees (1 trillion) – UN & Felix Finkbeiner, German Philippines: ANN writes, "DENR, Couples For Christ To Plant A Million Trees" (Author Not Named, 28 April 2019, Rappler , rappler.com ), by 2021. I wish them well. New Zealand: Joe McCarthy writes, "New Zealand Wants to Plant 1 Billion Trees to Fight Climate Change" (14 August 2018, Global Citizen , globalcitizen.org ), also by 2021. "New Zealand is getting closer to finalizing a plan to plant 1 billion trees, according to Stuff . The government allocated an additional $240 million to the project, bringing its total budget to $485 million over the next three years." I wish them well. All over the world: Laura Parker writes, "Teenager Is On Track To Plant A Trillion Trees" (07 March 2017, National Geographic , news.

We Filipinos are very respectful of women, I'm proud to say – unlike most cultures. Why do we not encourage the women to become farmers? We honor them much. It's the backbreaking work, sometimes the night fieldwork when you want to make sure you have irrigation water all over the field for your rice.  Irrigation. I'm the agriculturist around here, and the son of a farmer, so why did I not realize this a long time ago? It takes a lady, Caryl Levine, to tell this gentleman that, "Worldwide, most fresh water withdrawals are for agriculture, and the lion's share of that water goes to irrigate rice." I'm quoting from Miss Caryl's article "Changing How Rice Is Grown Around The World" published 22 April 2019 by the Fair World Project ( fairworldproject.org ). "And this comes at a time when major rice-producing nations are suffering from increasing water scarcity." A major reason is El Niño; another major reason is that farmers are prodigal

Environment is the richest word in Frank A Hilario's Dictionary today, Friday, 26 April 2019, and I thank a little Michael A Bengwayan for inspiring me, despite his intention!  In his OpEd piece of Monday, 22 April 2019, "Philippine Environment Going The Way Of The Dodo, Hardly A Topic In Philippine Election – OpEd" ( Eurasia Review , urasiareview.com ), international Filipino scientist & journalist Mr Bengwayan laments about the physical environment in our country: Its virgin forests are predicted to be gone in ten years, its seas are full of plastics, mining has degraded many mountains and polluted rivers and water sources, and deforestation is causing devastating floods. Yet, despite these threats, the state of the environment has not been a key issue with the Philippines heading to the polls on May 13. In the "(Leader) I Want for Senator Forum" at the Ateneo de Manila University, none of the candidates spoke on how to solve the pressing environmental

First things first:  Do I love Du30? I do. Do I love Dante Ang? I do. I love my enemies! Are Philippine journalists looking for enough ropes to hang themselves? President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, a non-journalist, has been trying to teach our Philippine journalists the basic lesson of "Stop Look Listen" – a sign you see in a railroad crossing. Meaning, "Cross at your own risk." Bus conductors are obliged to jump off the driver-immobilized transport to check for any approaching wheels of steel. They know what's good for their vehicles, and their passengers – bus & train. Not Filipino journalists, not worried about their media and their staffs. They insist on meeting tit for tat, Truth for Truth. Like the Manila Times online and Rappler . So, we have the news today, Thursday, 25 April 2019, where ANN says "Manila Times Editor Resigns Over 'Matrix' Story" (Author Not Named, 25 April 2019, Rappler , rappler.com ): Felipe "Ipe" Salvosa II

Why not?  On Facebook, I see the link to Tuesday's news by LHC, whoever that one is: "Davao City Allots P2M For Cacao" (23 April 2019, SunStar Davao , sunstar.com.ph ), and I make this comment (verbatim): 2 million pesos to make davao the cacao capital of the country? that's coming from a cross-eyed view of things. it should be at least 2 billion, 2,000,000,000! and you can challenge me right now where that 2 billion should go to Why only P 2 million? Januario Bentain, City Agriculturist Office... focal person, said the budget will be for the continued development of the industry after the city has been dubbed as the "Cacao capital of the country." Bentain said a large portion of the budget will be for training expenses such as chocolate-making, product packaging and labeling, business plan preparation training, product marketing and management training, chocolate forums, among others. Why not P 2 Billion?! Mr Bentain, I note that Davao City's P 2 milli

William Dar's latest Manila Times column, "PH Agriculture Ready For Industry 4.0?" (Part 1) online (25 April 2019, manilatimes.net ) is an eye-opener to me, an agriculturist and a very wide reader .  He is actually talking about 4 Industrial Revolutions: iR1, iR2, iR3, and iR4 (my designations). He says: "(iR4) offers a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds." He answers the question in his title: "So far there are no clear answers." Let us think some more! He says, "One of the best examples today of (iR4) is the 'smart factory,'" with everything automated, and that includes the system making its own decisions via artificial intelligence, AI. Sorry, but the application of AI in such a food production system is not for me. I love it when Mr Dar says that iR4 "can build on the technologies and systems of" previous industrial revolutions iR1, iR2, and iR3. "(iR1) is much abo

Annie Leonard & Tom Newmark say, "The Story of Soil Is The Story Of All Of Us" (22 April 2019, yes! yesmagazine.org ). They are talking Science – isn't that talking Bible too?!  In Genesis 1, NRSV, God made humankind in his image and likeness, Adam and Eve, and allowed them to "have dominion over" the fish, birds, cattle, wild animals, "every creeping thing" – that is why it was called the Garden of Eden , or Paradise . But they took God's word literally, and did not allow the soil to multiply itself by itself! So, poor banished children of Adam and Eve, we lost Paradise because we failed to learn conservation. Ms Annie and Mr Newmark quote Wendell Berry as saying that the soil is "the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all." They say: Ninety-five percent of our food is grown in it, it stores and filters our water and provides a home for the majority of life on the planet, and yet most of us rarely pay much

"Healthy soils for a healthy climate" – in 6 words, Jean-Paul Courtens gives us a simple guide towards resolving climate change. Above image is from the email linking to his article "What Have We Learned? Healthy Soils For A Healthy Climate" (02 March 2019, Real Organic Project , realorganicproject.org ). The email introduces Mr Courtens' video talk in these words: "Watch biodynamic farmer Jean-Paul Courtens of Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook, New York speak about (agriculture's) pivotal role in reversing Climate Change." "Agriculture's pivotal role in reversing Climate Change." I have always believed that, if not said it in those words, since 2007, months before Al Gore along with the IPCC won the Nobel Peace Prize. (See my essay, "The Yankee Dawdle. On Discovery Sorghum, The Great Climate Crop," 04 February 2007, ICRISAT Watch , blogspot.com .). As I write this, I check on Facebook and here comes my friend Joby Arandela sharing

First, I'm sorry, but the article by Louise Maureen Simeon on 15 April 2019, "DAR: Rice-Centric Model Will Never Be Successful" ( The Philippine Star , philstar.com ), is incorrect on 2 counts. One, DAR is not the Department of Agrarian Reform that the headline implies – rather, it is William Dar; and I happen to know personally that Mr Dar is not "a former agrarian reform secretary" but a former Secretary of Agriculture.  Next, the story has what I call a VIP – very important point – in the very title of the article itself: "Rice-Centric Model Will Never Be Successful." Filipino farmers have always built their farming around rice, rice, rice – and we never got out of that circle. Or, should I say, the brightest agriculturist never got to teach out of the box to PH farmers in the field. As a point of view, "Rice-Centric Model Will Never Be Successful" has not been seen up to now except by an international expert in our midst, who is also a Fi

I saw the above tarpaulin in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan that I shot at 7:45 AM Wednesday, 20 March 2019. The sign says, "Pangasinan Entrepreneurs Development Association Inc," PEDAI, and the group is based in Malanay, Santa Barbara, Pangasinan. In Santa Barbara, we have the Agricultural Training Institute, ATI's Regional Training Center I, meaning RTC for Region 1. This is relevant to note, as the Ilocos Region covers 4 provinces: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan, and the 9 cities within: Alaminos, Batac, Candon, Dagupan, Laoag, San Carlos, San Fernando, Urdaneta, and Vigan ( en.wikipedia.org ).  Today, I'm looking at ATI as digital, or it should be. I mean, any farmer should not need to travel from Asingan to Santa Barbara, or go to town to ask the Municipal Agriculturist for information & insights. What's the cellphone for?! Yes, that tarpaulin tells me about agribusiness. And my favorite columnist writes about that very subject today