THiNK Journalism

I say: Be careful what you say – you might be talking about yourself. Almost 4 years ago, on 28 July 2015, William Dar wrote an open letter to founder & former Executive Director of Philippine Rice Research Institute, PhilRice, Santiago R Obien, SRO – and today, 17 July 2019, I see that, inadvertently, he was describing himself . 2 Ilocanos talking between themselves, now another Ilocano kibitzing in history. I am reading (1) a copy of the 2015 love tribute of Alegria "Baby" Abellon-Javier Obien to her 2nd husband SRO titled SRO@80 subtitled A Celebration Of Life , which is full of open letters (Mr Dar's letter appears on pages 60-62); and (2) a copy of the autobiographical book SRO: Dare To Build written with Virginia A Duldulao (2004, 324 pages). Excellent reading! It was 1998, the time of Erap. Mr Dar was Secretary of Agriculture that year – yes, he was – and he became ex-officio the Chair of the Board of PhilRice whose Executive Director was SRO, whom he describ...

PH Agriculture is history. Can this man save it? The Filipino with the Indian turban is William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India. The tarp on the lectern says: ICRISAT is Outstanding Again Team ICRISAT is Great! William Dar, Team Captain of ICRISAT, is Outstanding Again. The Team is Great Again! When Mr Dar became Director General of ICRISAT in January 2000, we Ilocanos would have called ICRISAT jokingly   summa cum maude , "maude" meaning "last" ha, ha. Smartly, he looked at himself as Team Captain and all ICRISAT management as a team working together as champions of science. So it happened that ICRISAT succeeded in outshining the others in the CGIAR network of centers including the famous International Rice Research Institute, IRRI that brought the world the Green Revolution that, it has been said, saved the world from hunger. The above image is what introduces Chapter 26, pages ...

I have not followed someone else's accomplishments in agricultural science and management like I have followed William Dollente Dar's since 12 years ago, in 2007, when he was in his 8th year as Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India.  How and when did I get to know Mr Dar? On 26 July 2006, I published in the American Chronicle the article "The Wizard Of Rice," which was about former Executive Director of PhilRice Santiago R Obien, SRO. He had built, with his head & hands & heart a world-class research institute out of PhilRice in the presence of the prestigious international agricultural center called IRRI. After that, SRO said, "Isuratmo man met ni William Dar." (Kindly write about William Dar), and I told SRO I had to interview him because I didn't know him. So we visited Mr Dar at his residence in Quezon City – and ICRISAT publications surprised me. Even if I had not se...

Sidewalk selling and rice farming – both look innocent, don't they?  As SAKA moves to "Defend The Urban Poor’s Right To The City" (11 July 2019, Hiyaw , hiyaw.net ), I see a parallel: "Defend the poor farmer's right to the farm he has been abusing all these years!" SAKA does not want the poor vendors brushed aside like what Mayor Isko Moreno has been doing? As if the Mayor likes what he is doing to the poor usurpers of everyone's space! Understand. SAKA is "Sama-Samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo" that which translates itself as the "Artist Alliance for Genuine Land Reform and Rural Development." Here, I discuss land reform along with rural development , if only to point out that poor city vendors happily taking over streets in Manila is neither land reform nor rural development! SAKA says: Dispossessed in the countryside, peasants come to the city looking for better opportunities. But here they find the same dispossession, the ...

BusinessMirror Editors say (26 December 2018 , businessmirror.com.ph ): Philippine agriculture is dying because national leaders for the longest time have done nothing to help this sector and make it grow. As a result, millions of farmers who depend on the land for livelihood can’t get out of poverty. Frank A Hilario says: Think locally, act globally. Especially in the realm of leading and learning more about agriculture for business, food and pleasure. Now, here are 2 things to revive & kickstart PH agriculture: (1)   Appoint Global Manager to Jumpstart PH Agriculture I say for President Rodrigo Duterte to push-start PH agriculture, he will have to have William Dar as the head of the Department of Agriculture, DA. Why? Mr Dar has his aggie Roadmap; knows his Science; knows how to Inspire Teamwork within an organization; and knows Social Media. He is himself an original thinker in agriculture. He is a world-class science manager, having been Director General of the Internatio...

Think globally, act locally.  The government's Philippine Institute for Development Studies, PIDS, is complaining about PH's lack of innovation via Gwen B de la Cruz' article "Lack Of STEM, PhD Grads (Hinders) PH Innovation" (April-June 2019, Development Research News , pages 13-14 ( pidswebs.pids.gov.ph ). STEM is acronym for the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics. Unfortunately, the PIDS neither defines nor explains what it means by the word innovation, and neither does the source of the news, the Global Innovation Index ( globalinnovationindex.org ). In these islands, more than in any other field, we need a Secretary of Agriculture who has graduated from the School of Global Innovation . Speaking of global innovation today, I remember I wrote about it 12 years ago! I came up on 26 February 2007 with my long essay, "An Inconvenient Truth. William Dar,   The Filipino As Global Manager," in my dedicated blog iCRiSAT Watch ( icri...

Our President started right, William Dar says, as "a food-secure Philippines (was) actually the Vision of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte from his very first day in office" (11 July 2019, "The Power Of Technology And Innovation In Agriculture," Manila Times , manilatimes.net ). Mr Dar is referring to Mr Duterte's "10-Point Socioeconomic Agenda" (image from google.com ). That 10-point agenda (see list below) I saw years before, but I ignored it. Now it's educating me, especially #8, which is Mr Dar's topic this time, leading to inclusive development , which I wholeheartedly believe in. Now you know why I have just created this new blog of mine, Journalism for Inclusive Development , or j'include , where you're reading this. So, j'include! Following the example of St Therese of Lisieux, I choose all . In order to be faithful to my own inclusive journalism, I am obliged to truly accept all. There are 10 action items in Mr Duterte's a...