Thinking Of The Next Secretary Of Agriculture Of The Philippines – After William Dar, Who?

"Beyond Buzzwords: Transforming Philippine Agriculture” is Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’snew book, his Hello & Goodbye to the Department of Agriculture (DA) he has guided for 2.75 years.

At the Agricultural Training Institute on Friday, 08 April, ANN says, “Sec. Dar Launches Book To Inspire Reforms In Phl Agriculture” (Author Not Named, 11 April 2012, Department of Agriculture, DA.gov.ph). ANN is incorrect; I know Mr Dar has inspired huge reforms within the DA, its 8 regular and 15 attached agencies!

When PRRD appointed Mr Dar as Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, Mr Dar already had written out and which appeared in his column in The Manila Times that year, what he called The New Thinking For Agriculture with its 8 supporting paradigms (see my essay, “Frank A Hilario Investigates The Paradigms & Paradigm Shifts Of William Dar,” 27 Aug 2019, Ani Kita, Blogspot.com).

William Dar is a Man of Vision.
(My visionary photo of William Dartaken 27 April 2018)

ANN says that during the book launch:

The agri chief explained that it is important to document and share [with] the world or [with] a wider audience meaningful discourse, perspectives, and directions that inspire learning and transformations in the sector.

The book Beyond Buzzwords is to encourage “meaningful discourse, perspectives, and directions” with The New Thinking for Agriculture, which has found expression in the “OneDA” concept with its 18 “Key Strategies” –

_1.                Bayanihan Agri Clusters

_2.                Collective Action/Cooperatives Development

_3.                Province-Led Agriculture & Fisheries Extension System

_4.                Mobilization & Empowerment Of Partners

_5.                Diversification

_6.                Credit Support

_7.                Technology & Innovation Including Digital Agriculture

_8.                Farm Mechanization & Infrastructure Investments

_9.                Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation Measures

_10.          Food Safety & Regulations

_11.          Agri-Industrial Business Corridors

_12.          Global Trade, Export Development & Promotion

_13.          Post-Harvest Processing, Logistics & Marketing

_14.          Agriculture Career System

_15.          Education & Training: Agribusiness Management

_16.          Youth & Women Empowerment

_17.          Ease of Doing Business & Transparent Procurement

_18.          Strategic Communications.

As a leader, Mr Dar has got all the bases covered with the “OneDA Reform Agenda.” I am not surprised, given Mr Dar’s previous 15 years of international experience as Servant Leader (Director General) of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India. 3 terms – ICRISAT/the Indians loved him so much!

ANN says:

Dar also expressed openness to serve as the agriculture chief of the next administration if the opportunity arises.

ANN says his first appointment as Secretary of Agriculture was under President Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada from July 1998 to May 1999 (undated, “William Dollente Dar, Ph.D.,” DA.gov.ph). As Secretary:

He started implementing the provisions of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act… and despite an unfortunate El Niño episode, the agriculture sector registered an unprecedented growth of 9.6% in 1999.

Servant Leadership speaks out through achievements. I hope the next PH Secretary of Agriculture is the man who has spent almost 20 years in national and international administration of science & technology in agriculture serving the people – William Dar!@517

Save Our World; Save Our Dams; Save Our Farms; Save Our Farmers; Save Our Villages – The Lives We Save Include Our Own!

Call To Change” is Maureen Kelsey’s Facebook page that has set me to thinking: “Why didn’t I think of that?!” Nonetheless, I’m glad it’s the “Opposite Sex.” A female thought of it first before a male shaped it in his head – I’ve been into “Climate Change” even before Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. “Ladies first” has never been this good!

And it was another lady, my sister Brillita Hilario-Sindayen who saw it first, the image above that says:

“Two Plants Can Save The World” – Meet Bamboo & Hemp. Grows Anywhere. Creates Jobs. Replaces Oil, Coal & Wood. When used in 50,000 products, it’s all good.”

Being Filipino as well as WFH international science editor in (American) English in the last 22 years, I could not help but correct Ms Maureen’s text into this:

“Two Plants Can Save The World” – Meet Bamboo & Hemp. Grow Anywhere. Create Jobs. Replace Oil, Coal & Wood. When used in 50,000 products, they’re all good.”

(Grammar is also important.)

What is most important is the message.

The number Ms Maureen cites is amazing: “50,000 products” from bamboo & hemp. On my sister’s Facebook post, I added: “And they both are natives of the Philippines!”

Even where we are, teacher or housewife or WFH writer, we can contribute in our own way to defeat climate change!

I will now add native bamboo and Manila hemp (abaca) species in my advocacy of regenerative organic agriculture via my blog Towards A New Eden (Blogspot.com) that has this slogan: “True + Helpful + Inspiring + Necessary + Kind = "THiNK! Journalism." Ms Maureen’s Facebook page is not only thinking but also acting!

Ms Maureen’s slogan is “Save The World.” My slogan is “Save The Farmers.” One of my pertinent essays is, “Every Single Day Would Be World Health Day If We Made Our Soils Healthy First, According To Frank A Hilario – The Healthy 7 Of Regenerative Organic Agriculture!” (08 April 2022, Towards A New Eden, Blogspot.com). The Healthy 7 are: 1. Healthy Soils, 2. Healthy Crops, 3. Healthy Animals, 4. Healthy Fields, 5. Healthy Bank Accounts, 6. Healthy Food Consumers, and 7. Healthy Climates. I explain them all in that single essay; now, to summarize:

How to produce The Healthy 7? I say, “Do organic agriculture. Just do it!”

Here’s the latest news: “Heavy rains [has] raised Angat Dam’s water level by almost 5 meters since April 5” – Inquirer.netFacebook sharing 12 April 2022. Since I became an information officer of the Forest Research Institute in 16 April 1975, I have always known the Angat Dam to raise its water level to “Dangerous” when it rains – because the watersheds and/or the forests that feed it have been overlogged and hardly reforested – and not guarded enough to stop further deterioration of the natural resources.

Our farms everywhere are over-cultivated while under-nourished of healthy organic materials. Not healthy for us, not healthy for the planet. Thus, to save our farms is to save ourselves!@517

PH Department of Agriculture, Where Buzzwords Abound, And Focus Must Be On The Single Vision For Farmers & Fishers “Masaganang Ani At Mataas Na Kita” – Plenteous Harvests & Bountiful Earnings

With William Dar as Secretary of Agriculture, his leadership of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its numerous agencies has produced so many “buzzwords” as he calls them – concepts that he uses to successfully serve the DA as its Servant Leader.

Mr Dar was speaking at the launch of his own book titled Beyond Buzzwords subtitled “Transforming Philippine Agriculture” at the Agricultural Training Institute in Quezon City on Friday, 08 April 2022. I have asked for a copy, and currently am waiting for the courier.

Meanwhile, how to understand the works of the DA under Mr Dar – I have come up with the idea of, you guessed it: “Amid Buzzwords”!

In my daily journalistic pursuit of knowledge bits for Communication for Village Development in the 21^stCentury (CoViD21), concerning the DA, I have come across many of such buzzwords. Here is an incomplete, un-alphabetized list:

1.      New Thinking for Agriculture

2.      Industrialization

3.      Consolidation Of Small- And Medium-Sized Farms

4.      Higher Budget And Investment For Agriculture

5.      Infrastructure Development

6.      Promotion Of Exports

7.      Legislative Support

8.      Modernization

9.      Roadmap Development

10.  Clustering

11.  Financial Assistances

12.  Paradigms

13.  Grants

14.  “Masaganang Ani At Mataas na Kita”

15.  OneDA

16.  Paradigm Shift

17.  Value Chain System.

Note that my short list of buzzwords is longer than the list of regular agencies of the DA!

Regular Agencies:

1.      Agricultural Training Institute

2.      Bureau of Agricultural & Fisheries Engineering

3.      Bureau of Agricultural Research

4.      Bureau of Agriculture & Fisheries Standards

5.      Bureau of Animal Industry

6.      Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources

7.      Bureau of Plant Industry

8.      Bureau of Soils & Water Management

Attached Agencies:

9.      Agricultural Credit Policy Council

10.  Fertilizer & Pesticide Authority

11.  National Fisheries Research & Development Institute

12.  National Food Authority

13.  National Meat Inspection Service

14.  National Tobacco Administration

15.  Philippine Carabao Center

16.  Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization

17.  Philippine Coconut Authority

18.  Philippine Council for Agriculture & Fisheries

19.  Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority

20.  PhilRice

21.  Quedan Rural Credit & Guarantee Corporation

22.  Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center

23.  Sugar Regulatory Administration

I especially translate “Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita” as “Plenteous Harvests & Bountiful Earnings” – those words expressing the basic goal of the DA for farmers and fishers.

In my short-long list, buzzwords at the DA look like a dime-a-dozen – only if you neglect to check out where they are coming from. For example, “Roadmap Development” must be understood in terms of Mr Dar’s mantra “New Thinking For Agriculture.”

According to ANN, author Mr Dar said in the book’s Introduction (Author Not Named, DA.gov.ph):

Buzzwords are often dismissed because of over-use. Through this book, I invite readers to go past the rhetoric and use these buzzwords to drive meaningful discussion to promote growth and development, diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability.

And so in this genial intellectual exercise of CoViD21, I have encountered fertility, not futility!@517

A Crusader For Regenerative Agriculture, I Note That Only Kiko Pangilinan Is Talking About The Problems Of Filipino Farmers – We Need To Regenerate The Farmers Too!

Filipino farmers know their champions. Watch the Kakampinks rally in Pampanga, which reported 220,000 pink admirers, and see San Simon, Pampanga farmers raising the hands of for-President Leni Robredo, a lawyer; and for-Vice President Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, a practicing farmer and knowledgeable of the ups-and-downs of PH’s #1 industry.

I an agriculturist and a word warrior for village development, whom do you think I will vote for as Vice President?

It was Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan who authored RA 11321, or the “Sagip Saka Act” signed into law on 17 April 2019 by PRRD. Subsequently, ANN said the Department of Agriculture (DA) under Secretary of Agriculture William Darcomposed the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for the law, the IRR signed 21 Oct 2019 (Author Not Named, 21 Oct 2019, Department of Agriculture, DA.gov.ph).

Mr Dar acknowledged the authors and sponsors of Sagip Saka led by Kiko Pangilinan, and said of it:

Tamang-tama at meron na palang batas. (It’s timely we now have this law.) This builds up the momentum wherein farmers’ associations and cooperatives will embrace the agribusiness way of doing things.”

Mr Dar put (1) focus on farmer grouping and (2) emphasis on agribusiness. Most of our farmers are neither group-focused nor business-minded, and so it is no wonder that even if they produce much, still they losemuch in their farming!

I translate “Sagip Saka” as “Saving Farmers.” In the final analysis, it is the farmers who must save themselves – but we have to help them in all ways we can, especially via the DA.

ANN said:

The Farmers and Fisherfolk Enterprise Development Program under the Sagip Saka Act will assist in the improvement of production and productivity, including agricultural extension services, skills development, and provision of production inputs, equipment, facilities, and infrastructure support.

Mr Dar said:

Let me emphasize that the agribusiness mechanism is a way with which we can further enhance the capacities of the farmers through their associations or cooperatives in transforming themselves towards inclusive agribusiness.

For the DA to be able to assist the farmers fully, I favor the way of multipurpose cooperatives (MPCs), knowing MPCs, having been board member, now ordinary member of the Nagkaisa Multi-Purpose Coop in my hometown of Asingan, Pangasinan.

The Sagip Saka Act provides a way forward in terms of broadening interventions from production to processing and marketing using the value chain system.

Farmers probably have an idea of the value chain system, from seed to spoon, but I know for a fact, being a farmer’s son, that farmers constantly if unwittingly break the system in 3 ways: (1) borrowing from usurers before planting time, (2) selling farm produce during harvest time and submit themselves at the mercy of merchants, and (3) borrowing from usurers again between harvests!

Educational advice: For children to “teach” parents, a lesson or two in usury in agriculture should be taught in high school.

We have to educate farmers’ families for their own good!@517

Happy Birthday, PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar! At 69, You Are At Your Peak In Perspective, And Are Serving Well Your Own Country

Happy Birthday, PH Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar! Born 10 April 1953 makes you 69 years old today, Sunday, 2022. The number “69” is all about perspective, which you apply greatly – no wonder you are a gifted leader!

All about the significance of “69” 61x9ine (spin.com) says:

The true meaning of 69 is just because you’re right doesn’t mean I’m wrong. YOU JUST HAVEN’T SEEN LIFE FROM MY PERSPECTIVE. Turn the 6 upside down: it’s 9 but remains the same in a different perspective.

I took the photograph above on 04 May 2018, a Windows 10 accidental collage, in my Lenovo laptop; my camera Panasonic FZ100. I took the image from my Windows 10 extended monitor, Mr Dar being the happy, colorful figure – yes the combined image hints at national leadership in agriculture for the good of households & families.

For starters, Mr Dar is the Ultimate Servant Leader to me. He leads groups for their own good.

I did not know him from Adam before I blogged about PhilRice Director Santiago R Obien in the American Chronicle: “Management: Relating Is Everything. Or, The Wizard Of Rice Who Cultivated Minds” (31 July 2006, americanchronicle.com – unfortunately, this magazine died a long time ago). Mr Obien suggested that I write about Mr Dar, and I did.

On Mr Dar, then Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) based in India, I wrote, somewhat historically, about sweet sorghum and ICRISAT (“The Yankee Dawdle. On Discovery Sorghum, The Great Climate Crop,” 2007 February 4, americanchronicle.com). Mr Dar liked my journalism and as a writer from home, WFH, I wrote much about ICRISAT from 2007 to 2014, and it published 7 collections (books) of this WFH’s essays on its works.

Today, Mr Dar is in a different milieu as it were – he is “in charge” of the rising of Philippine Agriculture from poverty to prosperity, what he proudly calls

“Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita” (“Bounteous Harvests & Plenteous Earnings”).

Oh, certainly he knows that that is a Tall Order! But he is a warrior, not a worrier.

Above all, he is a planner. That’s why I started this essay about perspective. Before he was appointed PH Secretary of Agriculture on 05 August 2019, he already had come out with his The New Thinking for Agriculture with its 8 supporting paradigms:

(1) Modernization
(2) Industrialization
(3) Promotion of exports
(4) Consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms
(5) Infrastructure development
(6) Higher budget & investment
(7) Legislative support
(8) Roadmap development.

A complete package!

Today, on the occasion of his 69^th birthday, let me expand the perspective to the whole country, especially imagining a Metro Food Hub in each of the 17 PH regions, each region producing food, processing, storing and marketing nearby as well as abroad.

I am imagining The Vision that presents itself in all PH and in countries where we export farm products:

“Happy Science With A Happy Filipino Face.”@517

Fact-Checking? ABS-CBN's Dennis Datu Says Onion Farmers In Mindoro Want The Department Of Agriculture To Cooperate With Them: That’s Fake-Checking!

What onion farmers in Occidental Mindoro want, they don’t get – it stems from their own failure because they don’t give what the Department of Agriculture (DA) needs from them first: membership in a cooperative, to help them from planting to storage & marketing.
(“Successful” image from YouTube.com)

The onion news is negative from ABS-CBN News by Dennis Datu whose conclusion is that the DA is not helping the farmers, while he ignores the explanation of Regional Director of DA MIMAROPA Antonio Gerundio(07 April 2022, “Mga Magsasaka Sa Occidental Mindoro Umaalma Sa Mababang Presyo Ng Sibuyas,” ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com).

As I am about to show you, that is journalism that is at best distractive, at worst, destructive. Mine is journalistic fact-finding mixed with fake-finding!

Mr Datu says:

Maraming magsasaka ang napapaiyak sa sibuyas, dahil sa kawalan umano ng tulong ng Department of Agriculture para mapataas ang presyo nito. Tila sinisi pa ng kagawaran sa MIMAROPA ang mga magsasaka kung bakit bagsak ang presyo ng sibuyas sa Mindoro dahil sa hindi umano maganda ang kalidad nito. Umalma rito ang mga magsasaka ng sibuyas.

My free translation:

Many farmers are crying over their onions, alleging that the Department of Agriculture (DA) has not helped them any in raising the prices. Instead, the DA seems to be blaming the farmers for those falling prices in Mindoro by saying the local onions are of low quality. The farmers objected to that strongly.

Mr Datu himself ignores his own facts! In the same report, he says Mr Gerundio says those Mindoro farmers complaining have previously refused to become members of the farmers’ cooperative in their part of Mindoro, That is why the DA cannot help them – having refused to become members of the group that could have assisted them not only to sell onions at fair prices but in the first place to finance planting those onions, and store them when necessary. As it happens, the cooperative cannot help them because previously they refused to help themselves! The cooperative has the funds for farmers and the truck for bringing the produce to the market. Mr Gerundio says:

“The have to be members of the cooperative, or we cannot help them.”

Now, look at the top image: The onions are in sacks out there in the field, unprotected from the elements. In a proper cooperative, the onions would be in cold storage as they wait to be bought. Otherwise, the onions deteriorate into low quality, as Mr Gerundio is saying. As Mr Datu reports, Mr Gerundio says the quality of the onions is unacceptable, with the bulbs even maybe attacked by a disease.
(image of onions in sacks from Inquirer.net)

Mr Gerundio also says some farmers still irrigate their fields before harvesting. Buyers refuse to buy because they know that the bulbs will rot almost at once.

The onion farmers blame the DA when they are the ones guilty! Thanks ABS-CBN for this story that is a fact-checker as well as a fake-checker!@517

Every Single Day Would Be World Health Day If We Made Our Soils Healthy First, According To Frank A Hilario – The Healthy 7 Of Regenerative Organic Agriculture!

With Searca’s Facebook sharing on “World Health Day” today, Thursday, 07 April 2022, I was inspired to share what I have been thinking about since February 2022 that I now call “The Healthy 7.”

But first, let me discuss what the World Health Organization (WHO) says about: “World Health Day 2022: Our Planet, Our Health” (who.int). The WHO asks:

Are we able to reimagine a world where clean air, water and food are available to all?

Where economies are focused on health and well-being?

Where cities are liveable and people have control over their health and the health of the planet?

My single answer to all 3 questions: Yes!

WHO also says:

On World Health Day 2022, WHO will focus global attention on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies focused on well-being. 

“To keep humans and the planet healthy.”

Please!

WHO estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world each year are due to avoidable environmental causes. This includes the climate crisis which is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. The climate crisis is also a health crisis.

“The climate crisis is also a health crisis.”

Absolutely!

And how do we resolve all that? If you ask the WHO, the response is complicated. I am a simplifier. The Ilocanos, my tribe, are not fanciful beings. So: My personal response to the Climate Crisis is what I call “The Healthy 7” – and it is in Agriculture where we can bring about The Healthy 7 for the whole world:

1.      Healthy Soils

2.      Healthy Crops

3.      Healthy Animals

4.      Healthy Fields

5.      Healthy Bank Accounts

6.      Healthy Food Consumers

7.      Healthy Climates.

Healthy Soils

To regain soil health, what our farms & gardens need are organic materials replenished. There are inexpensive organic fertilizers. (PM me for the zero-cost organic!)

Healthy Crops

With all those chemicals applied in chemical agriculture (CA), the crops grow but are not as healthy as those grown via organic agriculture (OA). If OA is practiced instead of CA, the soil will be naturally rich and the crops naturally healthy – and thereby they can by themselves defeat pests and diseases.

Healthy Animals

No doubt, the animals raised in organic farms will be as healthy as hell! What you eat is what you become.

Healthy Fields

By forsaking monocropping and practicing muticropping, we will enrich the biodiversity of our fields and biologically decrease, even eliminate pests & diseases.

Healthy Bank Accounts

With cheaper organic fertilizers, the costs of farming & gardening go down, returns go up, and bank accounts grow bigger.

Healthy Food Consumers

Consuming healthy foods can only result in healthy bodies, no chemicals, no pesticide residues entering our mortal flesh.

Healthy Climates

With organic agriculture, we eliminate greenhouse gases that contribute much to disastrous climate changes.

Remember: Only organic agriculture is regenerative. Practicing 100% organic agriculture regenerates everything – our villages and all of us!@517