THiNK Journalism

From Facebook sharing by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar: “DA Yet To Obligate, Disburse 65% Of RCEF For This Year [1] ” by Madelaine B Miraflor (27 June 2020, Manila Bulletin ): To obligate P 15 billion: 67% (P10 billion) for Mechanization 20% ( P 03 billion) for Seed Distribution 13% ( P 02 billion) for Credit & Extension. I look at the numbers as So Much Power Distributed. Knowledge Is Power  – Thomas Jefferson. (icon from National MS [2] )  More powers must be applied to  ailing  PH agriculture today – Frank A Hilario. I refer to the (1) Power of Budget, (2) Power of Business, (3) Power of Science, and (4) Power of Knowledge Composed & Communicated. (business plan from PESTLE Analysis [3] ). These powers are all necessary, to give overall PH Agriculture the requisite assistances that it needs to help bring Filipinos from the “New Normal” to the “New Prosperity.” We are Witness to History in the Making – and the best thing is we have in Secretary William Da

This is a classic case of: Damned if you do; Damned if you don't! And yes it involves our coconuts. The text above those images in the Facebook sharing of Bahdor Shia said, clipped out but reproduced below (fresh coconut in box for export [1] , image from Alibaba.com: Meeting with the presidents of the coconut growers/planters of the different towns of Bohol together with the Regional Bohol-PCA. The coco farmers groups are “fully supportive of Sec William Dar’s coco initiatives but raise some concerns on the issue of re-planting of aromatic and high-yielding coco varieties. According to the farmers, for the issuance of cutting permit, an applicant has to pay a cutting fee and filing fee with the PCA, certification fee with the barangay and another fee for the chainsaw operator. Sans income because of low price of copra plus the high expenses for the permit to cut, there will be no chance for the coco farmers to revamp old trees and replant new coco varieties unless these concer

What you’re looking at is the Reality – as well as the Promise – of not only Soybean Farming in Surigao in far away Mindanao but also its radiating effects to all of Agriculture in the Philippines! Not obvious. You have to see more; you have to learn more. (PH map from Wikipedia [1] ) An Agriculturist, a science writer of 35 years and a wide reader, I myself did not know that distant Surigao produces more than half of the country’s supply of soybeans, as according to Executive Director Abel James Monteagudo of Caraga Region (Region 13) of the Department of Agriculture, DA, news brought to us by Alexander Lopez (24 July 2020, “Mechanization Brings Hope To Surigao Sur Soybean Farmers [2] ,” PNA). Mr Monteagudo said, “Even before, with their not so advanced way, soybean farmers in Surigao del Sur already (produced) more than half of the country’s soybean supply.” Months before mechanization, Surigao soybean farmers were already producing more than 50% of the PH supply – I can expl

So, why do they use animal manure to make organic fertilizers anyway? Rena S Hermoso writes “Knowing the Potentials, Limitations Of Organic Produce And Farming [1] ” (17 July 2020, BusinessDiary ), and it is not so-good-news: (In) recent years, organic produce has been gaining attention from the public for its nutritional benefits and being pesticide-free. However, the public must also realize that organic produce has its own set of potentials and limitations. While it is important to know the benefits of consuming organic produce, it is also equally important to learn its limitations to mitigate its negative effects and maximize its full potential. This is journalistic hyperbole that media serve and people relish so they buy more print copies or surf the media websites more often. That first paragraph makes it appear that organic farmers do not really care about their customers except as buyers of their farm produce. This perceived threat to health of organic consumers is exp

In this Digital Age, the DA-ATI should be #1 in terms of knowledge dissemination. First Class. The Agricultural Training Institute, ATI, is the official training arm of the Department of Agriculture, DA – as such, it should be on top of the situation. Well, with the video above, it’s trying to be. But there is more to be done. Like: Showing every single step. Putting in English captions. Do you realize that prior knowledge is no longer a barrier to learning anything new? That video is on practical ensiling with plastic bags, for the goats: using sugarcane tops, corn, sorghum, napier, even rice straw. Ensiling keeps the nutrients and moisture in the leaves while they await to be fed to livestock. ATI’s digital work has just begun! In its own website, ATI says: Extension services continue to evolve. With the challenges that extension workers and farmers face, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) continues to explore various strategies to improve its efforts as the exten

Truth to tell, PH land reform has never progressed beyond distribution of land – because the distribution of land is bad! So now we have many landowners, but no successful farmer from among the beneficiaries. Small isn’t beautiful! Is it because of the stupidity of the authors of the law – or the stupidity of the farmers? Neither. It’s the stupidity of some economists! In his column in BusinessWorld , Raul V Fabella says the Department of Finance, DoF, the National Economic and Development Authority. NEDA, and Congress are “contesting how best to reverse the economic free-fall wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.” The DoF and NEDA believe that the best way is to grant private corporate income tax deduction, to give them “breathing space,” from 30% down to 25%. Economists are hoping that the tax savings will be converted by private firms into new investments, new jobs. Similarly, Congress wants “to create jobs by ramping up state infrastructure spending.” It happened in th

This is the Philippines, ladies and gentlemen, farming country, and the male parent does not want his son to become a farmer himself! That is a major finding of UP Los Baños lady researcher Florencia G Palis in her study “Aging Filipino Rice Farmers and Their Aspirations for Their Children” (June 2020, Philippine Journal of Science, Science & Technology Information Institute). Son of a farmer, that is not news to me, but it’s still dismaying. Miss Palis found the farmer fathers would rather have their children study and apply for jobs in the cities or work abroad. That was 65% of her respondents; only 35% wanted their children to be like them, farmers. In her paper, Miss Palis said, as reported by Dhel Nazario, “Farmers Not Keen On Children Following In Their Footsteps – Study [1] ” (23 July 2020, Manila Bulletin ): The risk associated with rice farming as a means of livelihood further discourages parent farmers to aspire for their children to be like them. The uncertai

On 19 September 2019, the Cordillera Autonomous Region, CAR, via the Cordillera Regional Development Council, adopted the Cordillera Regional Development Plan 2017-2022 Midterm Update that detailed the region’s strategic thrusts for 2020-2022 [1] ( ANN, Cordillera Autonomous Region, National Economic & Development Authority): The Regional Plan is aligned with the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 (that) serves as the current administration’s strategy for national development anchored on enhancing social fabric (malasakit), reducing inequality (pagbabago), and increasing growth potential (patuloy na pag-unlad). Be that as it may, I keep looking for the in/dependent CAR plan for regional development in the next 20 years, but I cannot find any. So, the CAR is left saying, above, ”enhancing social fabric” and “reducing inequality” and “increasing growth potential.” The CAR has no Vision, Mission, Goal and Strategy by itself, which I think is unfortunate. So it cannot plan ex

With this, Reader, you will realize that we Filipinos have had those Golden Hens – so I am calling for raising of PH native chickens in the entire archipelago, in thousands of islands. (golden eggs image from Fine Art America [1] ) With Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, if the PH Department of Agriculture, DA, produce enough stocks of native chickens for 7 selected regions of the country – the agency under it, the Bureau of Animal Industry, BAI, could if they would – we Filipinos would be witness to many a vibrant PH poultry businesses: eggs, raw meats, processed meats, even pre-cooked whole chickens, and the live birds themselves. It would be the Golden Age of Chickens the entire world has never witnessed before! I don’t know why no Secretary of Agriculture has ever pursued a native chicken program in this country: Poor taste? You don’t have to import anything to grow the native chickens into a multi-billion peso industry. Of the fowl, the Philippines has at

Read up! “Darna sa tunay na buhay.”  Darna in real life . Yes, with Norman Will am Santos Kraft per his sharing on Facebook, we are looking at megastar Angel Locsin as a fearless warrior, empowered woman: PH fiction come alive. Heart-warming, inspiring. “Angel Locsin, Blokes PH” – By Blokes, I mean Bodies leading onto knowledge empowering society. By her bodily presence in rallies and demonstrations, without violence she is encouraging her countrymen to say “No to injustice.” Blokes also means Bloggers of knowledge empowering society. This is for writers dedicated to eradication of farmer poverty in the country. Blokes is a power word inspired by Darna! PH aggie journalists! So now I am inviting you to submit articles to me – frankahilario@gmail.com – that I will publish online separately according to the following blogs: Blokes4Chickens Blokes4Goats Blokes4NativePigs Blokes4Rice Blokes4Corn. Instructions for writers: Submit your article to me, preferably with a phot

The above main image is actually the cover of the book published by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, ACPC, of the Philippines, which is under the Department of Agriculture, DA. The book was published in April 2012 celebrating ACPC’s Silver Anniversary. Titled  The Filipino Farmer Is Bankable  and subtitled  Celebrating 25 Years Of The ACPC,  all 150 pages of it, it is a coffee-table book, all pages in color. I was the one-man band writer, photographer, editor, desktop publisher – within 2 months of contract, it came out 25 April in 25 copies, first delivery, in time for that 25th-year   ACPC celebration, at its Pasig City offices. The cover is my photograph of a white-onion field of the Kalasag farmers’ coop in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija, that has had years of rewarding production-to-marketing arrangements with national/international fast-food chain Jollibee Foods. I did not think about it until today, Tuesday, 21 July 2020, when my 6-year old  ideal  of a Super Coop got ma

The moment I read the last 2 words in Revin Mikhael D Ochave’s title of his story in the BusinessWorld Online this morning’s Monday, 20 July 2020, “Philippine Food Security Seen Depending On Maximizing Research [1] , ” my editor’s instincts told me there was something wrong. (“Being Wrong” image from Compression Institute [2] ) And there it was, same mistake by 2 different people – and, already You know that 2 wrongs don’t make 1 right! Those mistakes are in the very title of that story, and I repeat: “Philippine Food Security Seen Depending On Maximizing Research” Wrong word used, on 2 counts. One, there is no such thing as “minimizing research.” Two, even assuming that there is “maximizing research,” the report has nothing to do with it! 1 fault, 2 faulters. Before I say more, let me introduce myself. BusinessWorld   does not know me from Adam, so let me establish my credentials. I will mention just 3. One, you can say English is not a foreign language to me, an Iloca

Farmers are humans, aren’t they? They have to meet a hierarchy of needs, as according to American psychologist Abraham Maslow, just like we do. Above, PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar is speaking for farmers as he should. On his 4 th day as Secretary, Mr Dar (image from Food Evolution[1]) cited the “Family Income and Expenditure Survey,” which said that a typical Filipino farmer earned an average of only P 100,000 per year, just over P 8,300 a month, or had less than P 300 daily available for expenses [2]  for his family ( 08 August 2019, Ralph Rivas, Rappler ). That is poor! “Dar also admitted that prosperity is ‘non-existent’ in almost all agricultural households.” So I say that a poor Filipino farmer family is not safe from want, not secure in meeting those physiological needs – the only resort is borrow usury money. From the Maslow image ( The School Of Life [3] ), the 4 levels of human needs are: 4 th , Esteem (respect) 3 rd , Belongingness & Love (friends,

I continue to look at ABS-CBN (in denial), in the digital world, where it can make a huge difference. Worldwide, consider applying for jobs: More companies are now putting more weight on the skill of an applicant rather than the college degree. Ellen Ruppel Shell says, “College May Not Be Worth It Anymore [ 1] ” (16 May 2018, New York Times ). And here are “8 Job Skills You Should Have [2] ” (Youth Central): (1) Communication, (2) Teamwork, (3) Problem-solving, (4) Initiative and enterprise, (5) Planning and organizing, (6) Self-management, (7) Learning, and (8) Technology. (Above, superimposed, image of 10 skills now being asked for when applying for a job [3] ,  from JVS Toronto) So, I’m thinking of this giant corporation called ABS-CBN giving assistances, if only digitally, to the many state colleges & universities, SCUs, of the Philippines, in cultivating the skills of the youth in any of the fields in agriculture – without a degree, just simply a certification from any of