Halal & Knowledge Center – Working Together For Good Food For Stomachs & Minds!

Can a Roman Catholic (me) and a Muslim (you) build a Knowledge Bank together, cook meat, and live happily ever after? Not “Can” but “Let’s!”

I told myself, “Wow!” when I saw via Facebook sharing Leah Lyn D Domingo’s article, “Searca And UPLB Team Up For Halal S&T And One Health Knowledge Center For Southeast Asia^[1]” (09 September 2021, Searca.org). Ms Leah says:

To be hosted by the UPLB School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) with support from Searca, the Halal S&T and One Health Knowledge Center is envisaged to be a virtual one-stop, open-access regional hub for country-to-country and cross-country government-academe-industry exchanges of knowledge and resources related to the growing Halal and One Health global ecosystems.

The Halal Knowledge Center would be an open-access for knowledge and resources. The knowledge base will be for growing crops according to halal standards.

Ms Leah quotes Searca Director Glenn B Gregorio as saying, “In Southeast Asia, regional competition has stimulated the local and global markets for halal products.” With halal products, health brings wealth.

Previously a Searca scholar, Project Leader is Yusuf A Sucol of SESAM and the UPLB Climate & Disaster Risks Studies Center.

Health-conscious (underweight), as a writer warrior, I am interested in the halal (allowed food for Muslims according to the Koran), but more interested in the Knowledge Center:

Any journalist or writer in agriculture should welcome a Knowledge Bank that can answer many if not all questions about a subject anytime.
(“Knowledge Bank” image^[2]from Facebook)

The Knowledge Center Ms Leah is talking about emphasizes “exchanges of knowledge and resources” related to the production of halal foods. Rico C Ancog, Dean of SESAM, says:

As a unique value proposition, this initiative aims to combine Halal requirements with One Health concepts to afford a more integrative lens in looking into how livestock and ecosystems could be better managed in a more sustainable way.

Ms Leah says, “The first phase of the UPLB-Searca project is to conceptualize the Halal Industry and One Health Ecosystem as an emerging innovation for growth and development.” A necessary step, since you have to know and understand the system before you can say you know what it requires in terms of knowledge.

Knowledge. As a writer, who first of all must be a knowledge seeker, I know what I want from a Knowledge Bank. Now then, as I quoted above, the Halal Knowledge Center will essentially provide “government-academe-industry exchanges of knowledge and resources” – which tells me that it is not yet the Knowledge Center I was hoping for, for writers.

In this Digital Age, the age-old libraries are now passé. I hope the Halal Knowledge Center will go on to build a knowledge base for growing halal food products, including meat products, both for the experienced and beginner.

As source of information, whether on halal or non-halal products, as a writer, I have been dreaming of a universal one-stop-shop Knowledge Bank. I hope the Searca Knowledge Center is the beginning of a dream come true!@517

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[1]https://www.searca.org/news/searca-uplb-team-up-halal-st-one-health-knowledge-center-southeast-asia

[2]https://www.facebook.com/Knowledge-Bank-112879070400418/photos/

Covid – How The Whole World Panicked Over A Disease, Why You Don’t Have To, Today!

It’s the media (and Facebook sharing). “What we certainly have is a pandemic of fear. (All Earth's media) is gripped by coronavirus” – The Conversation (Australia).

Ignacio López-Goñi gives us “Coronavirus: Ten Reasons Why You Ought Not To Panic[1]” (07 March 2020, The Conversation). Here are the first 5:

(1) “We know what it is.“
(2) “We know how to detect the virus.“
(3) "The situation is improving in China.“
(4) “80% of the cases are mild.“
(5) “People recover.“
(“Don’t Panic” image[2] from World Economic Forum)

Personally, I want to sound the alarm against the alarm about the coronavirus. Do you know how many of your rights and freedoms were taken over by your government and/or your doctors by their declaring a pandemic and also causing economic chaos?

Gigi Foster, Paul Frijters & Michael Baker have just co-authored the 408-page paperback The Great Covid Panic: What Happened, Why, And What To Do Next”[3]” (Amazon.com). Ms Gigi is from the School of Economics of the University of New South Wales, Mr Fijters from the London School of Economics, and Mr Baker from the University of Western Australia. The authors say:

How to make sense of the astonishing upheaval of Spring 2020 and following? Normal life – in which expected rights and freedoms were taken for granted – came to be replaced by a new society as managed by a medical/ruling elite that promised but failed to deliver virus mitigation, all in the name of public health.

Whole wide world went wild & wanton – waah!

“A medical/ruling elite that promised but failed to deliver virus mitigation, all in the name of public health” – and now they are blaming the public for spreading the disease!

Professor Martin Kulldorff of the Harvard Medical School says of the book:

A tour-de-force on how the pandemic response was driven by fear, crowd thinking, big business and a desire for control, rather than by sound public health principles.

Driven by fear, crowd thinking.

I want the pandemic to begin to end right now. So, what will we do now?

American Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says:

Stay home. Most people with Covid-19 have mild illness and can recover at home without medical care. Take care of yourself. Get rest and stay hydrated. Take over-the-counter medicines, such as acetaminophen, to help you feel better.

Mayo Clinic[4] says:

Most people who become sick with Covid-19 will only experience mild illness and can recover at home. Symptoms might last a few days, and people who have the virus might feel better in about a week. Treatment… includes rest, fluid intake and pain relievers.

American Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says: “Stay home except to get medical care[5] (CDC.gov):

Most people have mild illness and are able to recover at home.

I say, if you have a fever and cough and other symptoms, try first the Filipino suob! Read my earlier essay, “Nobody Should Die Of Covid-19[6]” (30 August 2021, Communication for Development, Blogspot.com).@517

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[1]https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-ten-reasons-why-you-ought-not-to-panic-132941
[2]https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/covid19-coronavirus-mental-health-panic-stress-anxiety/
[3]https://www.amazon.com/Great-Covid-Panic-What-Happened/dp/1630692778
[4]https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/treating-covid-19-at-home/art-20483273
[5]https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/steps-when-sick.html
[6]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2021/08/nobody-should-die-of-covid-19.html

2 Disasters In 1 – Indian Journalism & Sri Lankan Ban On Chemical Fertilizers

As a journalist, you have to be extra careful with your reporting. As President of your country, you have to be extra careful you’re your exercise of power, like banning 100% of an imported item.

From Filipino Mark Nas’ Facebook sharing of Friday, 10 September 2021, today I Filipino give you an example of modern hyperbole in media, which is always modern bad journalism. While India’s online paper ThePrint has a brilliant slogan – “Substance of print, Reach of digital” – its journalist Samyak Pandey has written a dark, dreadful story, “How Sri Lanka’s Overnight Flip To Total Organic Farming Has Led To An Economic Disaster[1]” (10 September 2021, Theprint.in). The actual story is not dreadful, but reasoning and telling are quite alarming!

The main source of Mr Pandey’s report is a topic I have become a disciple of for the last 55 years: organic farming. I have read thoroughly Mr Pandey’s story of 932 words, including title, and I can see that he fails to report the bigger part of the story, which I may state thus:

The utter failure of the government of Sri Lanka under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to fully prepare for the 100% shift to organic farming by the whole country.

It is not the unprecedented 100 shift to organic farming itself, as the journalist of India would like readers to believe, but the unprepared inorganic farmers that caused the economic bubble of Sri Lanka to burst.

Not mentioning that President Rajapaksa failed to prepare his country to the organic shift from the inorganic, the implication of Mr Pandey’s Sri Lanka report is that organic fertilizers are bad for farming!

I am neither a seller of organic fertilizers nor an organic farmer; while I believe that organic agriculture is good for your health, including your own country, I a journalist have the obligation to try to convince you, but not force you, to shift to organic fertilizers. I should know my agriculture because I have a BS Agriculture degree major in Agricultural Education from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, UP '65; I should know my journalism, even as a self-taught journalist – and so I do study my subject matter very thoroughly.

A careful reading of the Indian ThePrint scary story on Sri Lanka’s “Journey to the Land of Promise by Organic Farming” has brought out the teacher in me!

Mr Pandey says:

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to impose an economic emergency on 31 August (2021) to contain soaring food inflation, and currency devaluation and forex reserves crisis. … According to the Sri Lankan government, two primary reasons have driven the inflation – crashing tourism due to the pandemic, and hoarding of food items.

It’s clear to me that Sri Lanka’s President Rajapaksa did not see his own mistake in notpreparing his country to the shift to organic farming! Being President, you cannot force a good thing without preparing your people to accept it! Being a journalist, neither can you right a wrong by reporting badly about it!@517

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[1]https://theprint.in/world/how-sri-lankas-overnight-flip-to-total-organic-farming-has-led-to-an-economic-disaster/728414/?fbclid=IwAR0WflzFnZnxVLOW8msPJ30lP9I6Kg115toTwE82zE6R111qzveEtH183K0

“Awan Mangabak” – Ferdinand “FM” Marcos As The Best PH President Ever!

Yes, I am a full-blooded Ilocano (FBI), birthplace Asingan, Pangasinan; Ferdinand “FM” Marcos was an FBI himself, birthplace Sarrat, Ilocos Norte. Yes, I do declare: As President of the Philippines, “Ni FM, awan mangabak” – FM was unbeatable, matchless, supreme.

He didn’t know me from Adam, although he hid from the Japanese once in our hometown during World War 2, as one of his relatives, Angela Valdez got married to one of Asingan’s distinguished gentlemen, Narcisco Ramos, who protected him from the Japanese and/or secret enemies.

Nevertheless, I owe FM much – I owe him my lifetime career as a science writer and an Editor In Chief!

No, he did not know me from Adam, but he created the Forest Research Institute (FORI) out of the research arm of the Bureau of Forest Development (BFD), 19 December 1974 and 4 months later, FORI hired me 16 April 1975, later to become Chief Information Officer (CIO),

I could not have entered the world of science and communication if FM did not create FORI by presidential decree!

Among other things: FM united and masterminded the Asean. He started the Philippines into the geothermal energy circuit. He created our country’s august bodies of science, including the Department of Science & Technology (DoST), and Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquaculture & Natural Resources Research & Development (PCAARRD). Today, DoST & PCAARRD dominate research universe.

In FORI began to blossom my communication career – awan mangabak! As CIO, I fathered and edited the monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly color magazine Habitat. How good was I as writer, editor and publisher? I never missed a deadline – and this was in the Age of Dinosaurs (giant typewriters), with commercial printing presses needing 1 week to print a newsletter. Those publications earned for FORI people a reputation for being scholarly and/or knowledgeable, as well as foresters and agriculturists who cared for the forests and the people.

From 1975 to 1981, I grew in reach and results in Communication for Development (ComDev), the theory of which I fashioned inside FORI and published in the 2^ndissue of Habitat, December 1980. I presented ComDev as entirely different from the Theory of Development Communication as expounded by UP College of Agriculture (UPCA) professor Nora C Quebral of the UPCA DevCom Department.

I am a BS Agriculture graduate, major in Ag Edu, Civil Service Professional 1964, graduate of UP '65. I am a self-taught writer, editor and photographer – today, digitally armed to the teeth. And yes, my communication career all began when FM created FORI and FORI took me in, via Technical Services Division Chief Pete Bueno. Salamuch!

FM also created among other bodies UP Los Baños (UPLB) from UP College of Agriculture, and the many first state colleges & universities (SCUs), among others Mindanao State University (1968), Bicol University (1969), Mariano Marcos State University (1978), and Pangasinan State University (1979).

Meanwhile, the many SCUs in the Philippines, awan mangabak – if they wake up from their slumber, they will benefit much from ComDev, including #1 UP Los Baños!@517

 

In PH, Christmas Begins In September – And Now It’s Time To Choose To Give!

Filipinos, let us celebrate Christmas this year much, much more than we ever did before! And let us give the gift of a million thanks to Ronald Mascariñas and his Chooks-to-Goflock for being the most gift-giving people especially to our athletes in 2021. The Filipino athlete has never been so honored as by a chicken!

In the Philippines, the Christmas season began Wednesday, 01 September 2021. How Christmasy can you get? It’s time to be giving gifts!

Not The Hilarios, that is, our parents (Dionisio Hilario and Sixta Agapito) and we three children (Emilio, Frank and Brillita) who lived in the rural village of Sanchez in Asingan, Pangasinan, northern Luzon, Philippines. We were neither poor nor rich. The most luxurious item we ever bought was a crankable phonograph player, a Victrola if I’m not mistaken. I’m talking of the 1950s, from elementary grades to high school. We did not even have a transistor radio.

And we never exchanged gifts! My father always made sure we had a “Christmas Tree” – which was always the top of a pine tree coming from Baguio City, where he had a family friend I have forgotten the family name of. (My brother Emilio was a family guest and he finished high school in Baguio City; he worked his way by helping in the family machine shop & repair business.)

Every year we had the proper branch of a pine tree, Pinus kesiya, native of the Philippines, a “Christmas tree,” that’s what we called it, but we never had any exchange of gifts. But we children could go around the neighborhood, sing Christmas songs, English and Tagalog and Ilocano, and receive some cash, and be happy in sharing the coins.

But where were those Christmas gifts?

In the above image[1], a merchant arranges his wares – star-shaped lanterns most Filipinos call “parol.” At home in Asingan, we spoke of the English name “star” that comes with “Christmas” and the “Christmas tree.” At home, I took care of the signs “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year.” Full-blooded Ilocanos, no, we did not practice exchanging of gifts.

It was enough for us to remember that Someone was born on Christmas Day, or some such day, the Son of God, who rules the Earth and our lives. We have to follow his Ten Commandments, whether we exchange gifts at Christmas time or not.

This year, the  Philippines has much to be thankful for, if you didn’t realize it. One of the most dramatic examples of Christian love has come from Chooks-to-Go. Mr Mascariñas did not have to show it, but he did, sharing his fortune with the little-honored Filipino athletes, especially in the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020 (postponed from last year because of the pandemic lockdowns).

Now then, by way of giving back thanks, why not gift our loved ones, friends and neighbors with a million bites, halves & wholes of Chooks-to-Go chickens from now until the end of the year? Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!@517

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[1]https://www.ctpublic.org/2018-12-24/love-the-holidays-the-philippines-celebrates-4-months-of-christmas-mania

Directing The Farm-To-Market Roads – Should It Be The LGUs Or DA?

One look at the above scene in Cagayan Valley and you can imagine how valuable is a farm-to-market road (FMR) to food producers on one hand and to food consumers on the other hand. 
(farm-to-market road image[1] from DPWH.gov.ph)

I am 100% certain that local government units (LGUs) know the political value of an FMR, and that the Department of Agriculture (DA) appreciates the economic value of the same – and that I think is the source of the unstated problem:

“Which government arm should handle the national budget for FMRs: the LGUs or the DA?”

I am the one asking that question. That was the unasked question during a recent hearing of the House Committee of Appropriations (HCA) on the DA budget for 2022 as reported by Jasper Y Arcalas (08 September 2021, “DA To Lawmakers: Enact Law That Will Ensure Funding For FMR Program[2],” BusinessMirror). The HCA members of Congress noted that the Department of Budget & Management (DBM) had slashed the FMR budget by 57.7% to P4.98 Billion. The HCA also noted that the FMR allocation for 2022 was just 6.97% of the proposed DA budget of P71.438 Billion.

Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, who is ex-officio head of the DA, told the HCA, as reported by Arcalas:

The budget given by the DBM under the NEP [National Expenditure Program] for FMR [in 2022] is P4.9 billion… The other (portion of the total FMR) budget was transferred to the local government units; that’s our understanding.

My own understanding is that the LGUs have the right to determine what, where, when, why and how to build the FMRs in their territories – but:

The DA has not only the Right but the Duty to see to it that those FMRs are designed to play their significant contributory roles in transforming Philippine agriculture in those LGUs!

The DA is the best judge for positioning those FMRs so that they can support the OneDA Reform Agenda. In another media, ANN says Mr Dar said earlier (Author Not Named, 23 June 2021, “Dar Leads Agriculture To The Right Direction[3],” The Manila Times):

We must apply the “One DA” Agenda to transform the sector by employing major strategies towards a modern and industrialized Philippine agriculture.

The Agenda is built on 4 pillars: Consolidation, Modernization, Industrialization, andProfessionalization. Those key strategies total 12, these ones:

Consolidation: Bayanihan Agri-Clusters; Collective Action/Cooperatives Development; Province-Led Agriculture & Fisheries Extension Systems; Mobilization & Empowerment of Partners; Diversification; and Credit Support.

Modernization:Technology & Innovation including Digital Agriculture; Farm Mechanization & Infrastructure Investments; Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation Measures; and Food Safety & Regulations.

Industrialization: Development of Agri Industrial Business Corridors; Global Trade, Export Development & Promotion; and Postharvest, Processing, Logistics & Marketing Support.

Professionalization: Agriculture Career System; Education & Training for Agribusiness Management; Youth & Women Engagement; Ease of Doing Business; and Transparent Procurement.

Considering all those, among other things, you have to give the DA all the budget it needs to bring PH Agriculture from Good Enough to Best!@517

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[1]https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/dpwh/news/16817

[2]https://businessmirror.com.ph/2021/09/08/da-to-lawmakers-enact-law-that-will-ensure-funding-for-fmr-program/?fbclid=IwAR17d3oaw7nNSBRdiS89QUrLnemxgsBcfz4YP6Mi54YwIZUpyob5sF-XRdk

[3]https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/06/23/supplements/dar-leads-agriculture-sector-to-the-right-direction/1804223

Bohol As Role Model Of Models For PH Prov’l Agri-Fishery Extension – William Dar

Personally, I see Bohol Governor Arthur Yap knows exactly what he is doing for his province in the broad field of Agriculture. His view is wholistic, all systems depending on each other…

That is why Rita Dela Cruz says “DA Picks Bohol As Model For Prov’l Agri-Fishery Extension[1]” (22 June 2021, StratComms, DA.gov.ph):
(Bohol image[2] from Detourista)

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Executive Directors (REDs) to make Bohol a model for the agency’s Province-Led Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Systems (PAFES), one of the major strategies under the “OneDA” Reform Agenda to transform Philippine agriculture.

More precisely, Bohol should be treated as The Role Model of Models for PAFES. Under OneDA, 17 provinces are models for agricultural extension, 1 model province each for the 17 regions of the Philippines. Mr Dar issued the Bohol-achievement-recognition directive after a 2-day visit where Mr Yap presented Bohol’s initiatives to develop the island-province’s agriculture and fishery sectors. Impressed, Mr Dar said, “Governor Yap’s presentation and package of proposed projects remain one of the best we have seen to date, as he matched Bohol’s priority agri-fishery programs and plans with the OneDA agenda.” That’s my Sec!

For his part, Mr Yap said, “We are aware that you are pursuing 18 key strategies, grouping them into four pillars, as part of the OneDA agenda. So, we laid out our banner agriculture programs using it as a benchmark or matrix so we could see where we are lacking.” That’s my Guv!

This is the first time I heard of a provincial governor knowing exactly what he is saying when he talks about the OneDA Reform Agenda supported by 4 pillars and 18 key strategies – to bring about equitable and sustainable family lives for farmers and fishers.

Ms Rita says Bohol needs more funding for major agriculture and fishery projects that include the “Advance Rice Technology” aiming for average yields per hectare of 7 MT for hybrid rice and 6 MT for inbred. Other initiatives cover corn, rootcrops (purple yam), coconut, bangus, tilapia, seaweeds, dairy, native chicken, and swine. For those projects, Bohol is requesting from the DA a budget addition of up to P976 million, and for farm-to-market roads P1.4 billion.

Yes Sir! You have to aim for much higher rice yields hybrid and inbred varieties. You also have to grow multiple crops within the province. And you cannot forget livestock. And to help ease transportation here and there, especially for farm produce, more FMRs.

Ms Rita says Mr Dar explains the “Bohol model” vis-à-vis the priority commodities:

This is exactly what we want LGUs should do, that is, focus on priority commodities and (estimate) the needed budget. Kung lahat sana ng probinsiya ay may priority setting na ganito, mas mabilis ang pag-unlad ng sektor ng agrikultura sa bawat lalawigan. (If only all provinces had priority settings like this, agriculture will progress faster in each province.)

Province sets the priorities; DA sends the necessary additional budget – all is well that partners well!@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-picks-bohol-as-model-for-provl-agri-fishery-extension/?fbclid=IwAR2hHSAiiHu48cpz6_edqz8FNYDI1O7v_83snlB9tkkfBTxXX8LTa66_g4k

[2]https://www.detourista.com/guide/bohol-attractions/