THiNK Journalism

"Undiscovered Country" is the name of a new digital adventure series by the American Image Comics ; here is its teaser [1] : Journey into the near future, and an unknown nation that was once the United States of America – a land that’s become shrouded in mystery after walling itself off from the rest of the world without explanation over thirty years ago. Actually, not only the US of A but also the Philippines and the rest of the world have walled off their journalism from serving their own people! The term Undiscovered Country came to me a few minutes ago, at about half past 3 in the early morning of Monday, 30 December 2019 Manila time – I had thought of it independently of Image Comics' series of the same title first published 06 November 2019 [2] . I am a science journalist, and I do use my wild imagination, but I do not write science fiction; rather, I write nonfiction, journeying into the future. I am actually thinking of the concept of journalism for inclusive de

Today, Monday, 30 December 2019, right after midnight of Sunday, discovering on the Internet the image above, the unfinished high-rise condominium Torre de Manila behind the National Hero monument at the Luneta [1] , instantly I titled it, "Business Behind Bravery." So many flags! We did not know it – our National Hero Jose Rizal was so brave in life as in business, less with livestock and more with crops!  Bolo-wielding Andres Bonifacio wanted to change the rulers; pen-wielding Jose Rizal wanted to change the rules. Bonifacio wanted to change the men who called the shots; Rizal wanted to change the minds of the ruled and the rulers, who should have called off at the Luneta those shots heard around the world. Bonifacio for Revolution, Rizal for Redemption. That is why I wrote and published in 2005 my book, indios bravos! Jose Rizal As Messiah Of The Redemption [2] . I really mean business this time. When Rizal was executed at the Luneta on 30 December 1896, among other things

The text on the above image says, native trees like narra "Promote growth or biodiversity of the area (and are) food sources for forest animals, more effective in preventing soil erosion, (and) home to birds and other insect predators (that) protect nearby crops. (Also), wildlife, especially endangered species, prefer familiar native trees." Take note: Trees "protect nearby crops." I am familiar with native & exotic forest trees. I was Editor in Chief of the Forest Research Institute, FORI, 1975 to 1981, and I had to study my Forestry very well – I am a graduate of Agriculture. Naïve about biodiversity, already I was a voracious reader, since Grade 1, more so that I was founder and Editor in Chief of 3 major publications of FORI: Canopy , monthly newsletter; Sylvatrop , quarterly technical journal; and Habitat , quarterly popular journal that I patterned after the American National Geographic . Not only edit, I had to read and write myself. To this Agriculturist

Organic food is richer – and so it is also pricier, and therefore worth growing. Under the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, your farm needs a 3rd-party certification before you can label your farm produce as "Organic." The cost of certification ranges from P 42,000 to P 150,000, valid for 1 year [1] . Similarly, if you are into cacao farming, like Indai Le Cortes of Villa Cortes Criollo Farm is, to be able to officially claim that your tree is heirloom whatever, you need a DNA test, and the cost is also prohibitive. Miss Indai shares on Facebook: I want to announce to everyone that what I have discovered as "Possible Heirloom Cacao Trees" are not yet DNA-tested and my nursery, Villa Cortes Criollo Farm is not BPI-NSIC Registered (either). All that I have discovered are certified by the Plantacion De Sikwate Cacao Producers, Inc, an association of which I am a member. We simply believe that those I have discovered are remnants of the Manila-Acapulco Trade because of

This calls for a paradigm shift!  Above is the upper half of the cover of SEARCA's first published Professorial Chair Lecture, by multi-awarded UPLB Professor of Land & Water Resources Engineering Victor B Ella, with the long title, "Conservation Agriculture: A Biological Engineering Approach To Sustainable Agriculture In Support Of Rural Development In Southeast Asia," with 64 inside pages, coming out in 2018. Outright, I want to say this is the most intelligent research and report on what Mr Ella refers to as "conservation agriculture," that which I know fits perfectly into what I believe is "organic agriculture" – with conservation referring to the objective and organic referring to the process. In the Abstract, Mr Ella says: Conservation agriculture... is based on the principles of minimum soil disturbance, continuous mulch cover, and diverse crop species rotation. Without consciously realizing it, Mr Ella has defined the organic agriculture

On 21 December 2019, at the Philippine International Convention Center, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie was the guest speaker at the oath-taking of 5,538 passers of the Agriculturist Licensure Examination conducted this November [1] .  To you, "my warmest congratulations," Manong Willie told the Agriculturist oath-takers: Ilang dekada na rin ang nakalilipas, ako'y kagaya rin ninyo na nangarap at nagsikap upang maabot ang aking mithiin sa buhay. Mga magsasaka po ang aking mga magulang -- Marcelo and Ana – mula sa Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur. (Already, so many decades have passed, I was like you dreaming and working hard to reach my goals in life. My parents are farmers – Marcelo and Ana – from Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.) Being with dynamic young people like you whose heart belongs to the countryside always (gives) me more confidence about Philippine agriculture. I writer now quote William Shakespeare who said, through Prince Hamlet: To be, or not to be, that

Happily, I am consuming my 1 kilo of cocoa tablea (tablet) ordered from Indai Le Cortes' Villa Cortes Criollo Farm from Sagbayan, Bohol, the farm right next to Chocolate Hills. I bring 2 tablets to a boil with water, then drink it – I like it hot. I like the many health benefits too. Healthline says, "Cocoa and dark chocolate have a wide variety of powerful antioxidants... way more than most other foods [1] ." About cacao culture, especially in pursuit of the New PH Agriculture espoused by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, who is therefore chief of the Department of Agriculture, DA: Now, the sense of "Agriculture" the DA is espousing is double: Agriculture , growing field crops like rice and corn, and Horticulture , growing garden crops like flowers, fruit trees, ornamentals, and vegetables. Growing cocoa/cacao is not Agriculture but Horticulture, which is the UPLB doctorate field of Manong Willie. From a Facebook sharing, in the image above,

I was shocked to read "Don't Starve Our Farmers," Jun Ledesma's explosion [1] against the head of the Department of Agriculture, DA, William Dar/Manong Willie, that appeared 10 September 2019 on the webpage of Philippine News Agency, PNA, a newswire service of the government. So, this is PH government criticizing itself nastily and in public!  Thanks to Mr Ledesma, I had to search, and I found the above Wikipedia journalistic paradigm [ 2] . He failed in Stage 1: Gather Data , so he could not proceed properly to Stage 2: Filter Data ... etcetera. What happened was Mr Ledesma's entire story is 100% based on Zero Data . Mr Ledesma's first paragraph is all we need to appreciate, or deprecate, his "Dear Sec William Dar, Sir:" You do not solve the problem of rice farmers by asking the local government units to buy their palay (unmilled rice). Neither will you be able to solve their plight by extending them palliative monetary dole-outs. You should not pa

Newly confirmed Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has "My Wish List Under The New Thinking" 1st of 2 parts, in his column in the Manila Times , 19 December 2019 [1] . He says, "This wish list applies not only for the New Year... but beyond." To cut short his column of 1,000 words, I see and say the great many items in Manong Willie's wish column are commonly appreciable if we only thought of one word: Entrepreneurship . (entrepreneurship image from PNG Guru [2] ). Now then, here is my list from his list: (1)   Farmers must learn to be entrepreneurs, especially the young. (2) The private sector must be more entrepreneurial in developing and discovering markets for agricultural products. (3) The State Colleges & Universities, SCUs, must conduct their R&D pushing for entrepreneurship in the countryside – especially for young farmers. (4) Community corporations must be formed, in pursuit of entrepreneurship from wholesale to retail. (5) The