What Is The Best Way To Remember 11 Sept 2001? Asking For A Friend!” – Frank A Hilario

I have always lived in the Philippines – am I too far away from New York City to care about what happened to the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers on 11 Sept 2001? Asking for a friend!

Today, Sunday, 11 Sept 2022, I opened my Lenovo ThinkPadlaptop and typed “Sept 11” exactly like that, pressed Enter, Google Chromeannounced onscreen: “About 23,300,000 results.” 23 million mentions – so how to digest all that?!

First, I had to browse – fast. Along the way, I decided to look for what lesson(s) did we learn from the Sept 11 terrible Islamic terrorist attacks on the United States of America, the world’s symbol of democracy. Here are my picks:

Wikipedia says:

The September 11 attacks… were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda against the United States. Number of deaths: 2,996. Date: 11 Sept 2001, at 8:15 PM GMT+8. Attack types: Aircraft hijacking mid-flight & ramming against the World Trade Center [New York City] and Pentagon [Arlington, Virginia].

Kathryn Sikkink, 01 Nov 2001, items.ssrc.org):
The enormity of the loss of life and the premeditated nature of the attacks on September 11th justify calling them “a crime against humanity.”
(“Never forget” image, fineartamerica.com)

Marc Tessier Lavigne (10 Sept 2021, Stanford Report, news.stanford.edu):
Sept 11 ushered in a new sense of national vulnerability and brought into sharp relief the importance of safeguarding America’s democratic values, our freedoms as citizens… and our pluralistic society…

Gene Block, UCLA Chancellor (10 Sept 2021, Newsroom, UCLA, newsroom.ucla.edu):

I hope that we can find within ourselves some of the courage, compassion and selflessness that [shone] so brightly in the wake of the terrorist attacks 20 years ago.

Thomas Schwartz, Professor of History (09 Sept 2011, Vanderbilt View, news.vanderbilt.edu):
The terrorists did achieve a major victory by destroying that symbol of American capitalism [World Trade Center]. They murdered almost 3,000 people and stunned the United States. That was quite an achievement, as awful as it was.

Editorial, The Intelligencer (10 Sept 2022, theintelligencer.net):
Ensuring the horror of that day is never forgotten is a mission a few local groups have continued under the leadership of Rabbi Joshua Lief of Temple Shalom. The annual observance to push memories of the day back to the forefront of our thoughts while also promoting a spirit of purpose and unity…

Lauron H Hublin(11 Sept 2021, Barron’s, barrons.com):
We were united by challenging circumstances… Looking out for one another and serving our readers honestly seemed like the best revenge. It still does.

Emma Widmar (09 Sept 2022, Racine County Eye, racinecountyeye.com):
“Remember the Sky,” an active remembrance event. The goal of the event is to help people “recognize how we are all connected to one another underneath the same big sky.”

Tamela Baker (The Herald-Mail, heraldmailmedia.com):
The best way to remember Sept 11: Try a little kindness.
(“kindness” image, Laurel Selby, linkedin.com)

And the best lesson for us today about Climate Change? “Try a little kindness to the soil – avoid chemicals!”@517

Young Female Champions In Agriculture (YFCA) – My Single Challenge To The PH Department Of Agriculture And Leni Robredo’s Angat Buhay – Winners All!

As an agriculturist and a communicator for village development, I love the “Young Farmers Challenge” (YFC) of the PH Department of Agriculture (DA), YFC being born in 2021. The deeper I look at the YFC, I see that the challenge is actually double-edged: “Learn to love farming” and “Learn to make it more rewarding.”

Bella Cariasosays, “Young Farmers Program Kicks Off” (01 Sept 2022, Manila Times, manilatimes.net). Last year, 2021, Rosette Adel says the DA “launched a program that seeks to provide financial grant assistance to youth interested in the agri-fishery sector” (11 June 2021,  “DA Seeks Competitive Youth For ‘Young Farmers Challenge’ Agribusiness Grant,” PhilStar Global, Philstar.com) – but Ms Rosette herself does not provide the exact date of launching of the YFC; we leave it at that.

More importantly, I note that Ms Bella says the YFC is attracting the youth to farming in any of the following areas: production, processing, packaging, fabrication of farm machinery, and digital technology. The YFC grants P50,000 to individual winners and P100,000 to group winners at the provincial level; P150,000  to each of 3 regional winners; and P300,000 to each of 6 national winners. In total, adding from provincial to national, each national winner actually accumulates P500,000 (half a million).

Ms Bella says at least 1,700 provincial YFC winners will now enter the regional round. At least P150 million has been allocated by the DA to the YFC Fund. She explains that the national winners will be selected “in terms of the applicant's entrepreneurial attributes, innovativeness of the business proposal, potential for generating revenue stream, value addition and social responsibility.”

For this year, the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) officially launched the Young Farmers Challenge Program on 31 March 2022. The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) provides training services as necessary, while the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) provides the funds. AMAS, ATI and ACPC are constituents of the DA.

With the YFC, young Filipinos of 18-30 years of age are being challenged to provide newblood to PH Agriculture – which is all Conventional or Chemical Agriculture (CA). What about new ideas, like Organic Agriculture (OA)?

The American Rodale Institute says (“Organic Vs Conventional Farming,” rodaleinstitute.org):

Conventional and organic farming methods have different consequences on the environment and people. Conventional agriculture causes increased greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, water pollution, and threatens human health. Organic farming has a smaller carbon footprint, conserves and builds soil health, replenishes natural ecosystems for cleaner water and air, all without toxic pesticide residues.

The DA is encouraging new ideas about old PH agriculture – why not Organic Agriculture (OA)? Since OA is healthier and much cheaper, it is pro-farmers and anti-poverty!
(image sources: “YFC” from bar.gov.ph, “Women Winners” from olympics.com, “Angat Buhay” from carousell.ph)

For the sake of Mother Filipinas, I’m encouraging Ma'am Leni and Angat Buhay to come up with funds for the new “Young Female Champions of Agriculture” (YFCA). Then, YFCA will cultivate organic agriculture for healthier and wealthier families!@517

“You Can Give In. You Cannot Give Up.” Leni Robredo’s Refrain After The May Presidential Elections – The Real Work Has Just Begun!

Ma'am Leni has a unique hand gesture in this Facebook sharing of Ann Gatmaytan of Radikal by Joseph Vicente Dimla that quotes, “True leaders have a servant’s heart” (08 Sept 2022). Maria Leonor “Leni” Gerona-Robredo, ex-Vice President of the Philippines and founder & inspiration of Angat Buhay Foundation, has a servant’s heart. Another way of putting that is this: Ma'am Leni is a Servant Leader.

“Service is the heart of our business, and people are its soul” – Morley Gold Standard (morleynet.com). I sensed that as her personal business, and yes, I voted for Leni Robredo as my President in the 09 May 2022 PH elections (see my essay, “Ma'am Leni, Angat Buhay, Remembering Adam & Eve: Here Is How The Females Can Show The Males How To Take Very Good Care Of Their Garden Of Eden!” 17 Aug 2022, Beauty & Brains Farming, blogspot.com).

Launched in Oct 2016; as of 21 Dec 2021, “Angat Buhay” has partnered with 372 organizations, mobilizing P520 million worth of resources for 321,001 families and 305,223 individuals in 223 communities in the Philippines (Angat Buhay, Office of VP Leni Robredo, staging.ovp.gov.ph). Public service is not stopping even if Ma'am Leni did not become PH President.

“Angat Buhay” I translate as “Lifting Lives” – mainly anti-poverty – those who are running the Foundation, whether mostly girls or not, are therefore servants of the people.

Above, Ma'am Leni has a unique hand gesture – as I see it, Angat Buhay has a unique mission: “Angat Buhay Lahat” (“Lifting All Lives,” my translation). But especially the poor as well as the downtrodden.

Mara Cepeda says, “Robredo Launches ‘Angat Buhay,’ Hopes Supporters’ Campaign Energy Sustains It” (01 July 2022, Rappler,.rappler.com); now as a private citizen. Ma'am Leni says:

Nasa sa atin po ang lahat para sabihin na hindi tayo failure nung eleksiyon. Naging matagumpay tayo. Because of the campaign, we were able to start the spirit of volunteerism all over the country, (“It is up to us to say we did not fail in the election. We were triumphant.” – my translation)

Yung challenge talaga sa atin: Papaano natin maha-harness ’yung energies nating lahat into things that are productive? And we feel like ang Angat Buhay will be the perfect platform for it. (The real challenge to us: How can we harness the energies of all of us… - my translation)

In the lower image, the wall paintings say: “Puedeng Mapagod. Bawal Sumuko.” (“You Can Give In. You Cannot Give Up.” – my translation). The real work has just begun!

Servants cannot give up. “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” – Max De Pree

How does the leader lead? “The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” – Coach John Wooden

The Slogan of The Morley Gold Standardis: “Moving People To Move Mountains.” Angat Buhay is campaigning to move people to move people up their hills or mountains!@517

Angat Buhay Agriculture! (ABA!) By Girls Vs Capitalist-Inspired Agriculture (CIA) By Boys – Intelligent Agriculture Vs Diligent Agriculture!

Time for the girls teach the boys how to farm using their brains! In Agriculture so far, the boys have shown they are not using their brains, insisting on applying chemical fertilizers, which disastrously results in Climate Change!

I began writing about Angat Buhay Leni Robredo 2 years ago (see my essay, “In Looking At The Crown Of Thorns, I Found The Clowns” 03 April 2020, Beauty & Brains Farming.blogspot.com):

There was this news that some high PH government officials wanted to probe Vice President Leni Robredo for “competing against” PH agencies in providing much-needed assistances during this coronavirus lockdown, and Marigs Laririt shared a picture-story on Facebook quoting Ms Leni as saying, “I didn’t know it was competition. I didn’t see any competitors!” Ms Marigs says, “Ay, parang friends ko kung sumagot si Mam.” (Ay, with Mam, it’s just like my friends answering back.) Ms Leni’s is a two-handed backslap, and you can imagine the lady laughing! I say: She is the humor-monger – they are the clowns.

This time, I’m calling on Ma’am Leni and her Angat Buhay Foundation to finance a program in PH Agriculture I am now calling “Angat Buhay Agriculture!” (ABA!) to awaken the farmer males sleeping/slipping on Capitalist-Inspired Agriculture (CIA); ABA! will decrease much farm costs and simultaneously increase farm outputs with farmer incomes because of very low costs.

The farming males have not been feeling guilty with their CIA causing much of Climate Change, applying chemical fertilizers that generate greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the fields. With CIA, the GHGs generate less farmer incomes and morecrop losses. Boys will always be boys!?

Ben Gines Jr says, “P24B Allotted For Climate-Smart Agri” (28 Feb 2022, Manila Times, manilatimes.net). Excellent! Compare that with the P27B subsidy for chemical fertilizers in the PH budget for 2023! Our male-dominated agriculture is chemical-minded, and so I am inspiring our female-dominated Angat Buhay Foundation to be Climate Change-smart. Then we will see the girls outsmarting the boys!
(image sources: “Girl Carrying Boy” from cuitandokter.com; “Angat Buhay Pilipino” from lenirobredo.com)

The ABA! Program I am proposing will begin with a modest initial project – reinventing therotavator. I have been writing about this, my latest essay being “With The Angat Buhay Rotavator In Place, The Girls Can Show The Boys Less Costs & More Returns In Farming – Beauty & Brains!” (07 Sept 2022, Beauty & Brains Farming, blogspot.com). I emphasize that the ABA! Rotavator will be able to create an organicmulch all over the farm on its first passing over the field automatically– ensuring organic agriculture, even if the girl operator knows only how to run the equipment but knows nothing about organic farming at all!

What the CIA boys are doing now is applying their knowledge on chemical fertilizers, not applying their brains, thus failing to realize they are producing the GHGs that produce Climate Change they are complaining about – the CIA boys can use higher intelligence!

With the intelligent ABA! Rotavator, it will be Beauty & Brains over Boys!@517

PH Congress To Subsidize Agriculture With P27B Budget For Chemical Fertilizers – Being Pro-Farmers & Anti-Filipinos!

Why is it that Filipino rice farmers insist on the expensive chemical fertilizers when they can use much-cheaper organic fertilizers and get higher yields? Asking for a friend!

Congress doesn’t care about Climate Change, only about Filipino farmers. Last June, Catherine Talaverasays, lawmakers were asked to allocate “P27 Billion To Fund Fertilizer Subsidies” (01 June 2022, Philippine Star, philstar.com):

The government would need to provide around P27 billion worth of fertilizer subsidies for… rice farmers to support their production this cropping season as fertilizer prices continue to rise, the Federation of Free Farmers [FFF] said. FFF National Manager Raul Montemayorsaid that a P10,000 per hectare subsidy is needed to cover the increases in the prices of fertilizers.

Note: The P10,000/ha is only to cover the increases in fertilizer cost. Mr Montemayor says a farmer uses 6 bags of fertilizer.

“If a farmer uses six bags of fertilizer, and the cost has increased by P1,500 per bag on the average, total additional cost is P9,000,” Montemayor said. “We round it off to P10,000 to account for cost increases for pesticides, fuel, etc.  If we subsidize this, the cost will be P27 billion.”

Catherine Talaverasays the DA estimates total fertilizer cost at P11,300 at average of 4 bags/ha urea (08 June 2022, “Rice Prices May Go Up By Yearend – DA Exec,”. OneNews, onenews.ph) This is no laughing matter: Fertilizers account for 30-40% of total cost of crop production!

Catherine Talavera says, “DA Urges Use Of Cheaper Fertilizers To Cut Costs” (08 June 2022, PhilStar, philstar.com). With Bio-N, at P100/sachet, rice farmers could save P10,700/ha with 6 sachets.

So why are PH farmers not using Bio-N? Good question!

On the other hand, Eireene Jairee Gomez says, “DA Endorses Cheaper Biofertilizers” (09 June 2022, Manila Times, manilatimes.net/):

“Given the exigencies of the times, we have to massively promote the use of Filipino-developed technologies to enhance crop productivity and incomes of our farmers and fishers," Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.

Mr Dar is referring to “Bio-N,” a microbial (organic) formulation by Mercedes Umali-Garcia of UP Los Baños some 40 years ago. Organic fertilizers would fight Climate Change, not cause it.

Not thinking Climate Change, UP Los Baños is not actually interested in promoting organic fertilizers – it would take the DA under Secretary Dar’s instruction to inquire about Bio-N.

I UPLB alumnus am interested in more than Bio-N – I am interested in an agriculture in which organic fertilizers are a part:

I am interested in replacing 100% Chemical Agriculture (CA) with Regenerative Agriculture (RA). To save billions of pesos! To save millions of lives!

In America, Rebecca Jacobsonsays, “Climate Change And Fertilizer Runoff Spell Bad News For Lake Erie,” PBS News Hour, pbs.org) – the bottom image shows the dark shadows of farmers near Erie causing fertilizer runoffs and polluting the waters. 

CA is pollutive of minds. Nobody is asking me, a not-so-ordinary Filipino citizen, but I’m recommending that our farmers switch from chemical to regenerative methods, to inflate their incomes and deflate Climate Change!@517

With The Angat Buhay Rotavator In Place, The Girls Can Show The Boys Less Costs & More Returns In Farming – Beauty & Brains!

Girls Vs Boys, using intelligent science with organic vs chemical farming, low cost vs high costs, high returns vs low returns – with the rotavator reinvented by me and Angat Buhay! (“Lifting Life”)

I blogged this Wednesday morning at 6 AM, “Ma'am Leni, Here Is My Proposal For You – Love For Food, Healthy Organic Foods Grown By Girls, Starting With Village Sagñay!” (07 Sept 2022, CoViD21, covid21fah.blogspot.com). I’m proposing a reinvented rotavator. But first, let’s see where I'm coming from through the eyes of others:

You have to empower farmers. Farmbettersays, (undated, “Empower Farmers To Build Resilience To Climate Change,” farmbetter, farmbetter.io):

In 2019 we created farmbetter – a mobile app… to put tailored and actionable know-how directly in the hands of the farmer.

That “farmbetter” is artificial intelligence (AI) in aid of conventional agriculture – nice, but hardly anti-Climate Change!

IoT For Allsays (“Smart Farming: The Future Of Agriculture,” IoT For All, iotforall.com): “Smart farming refers to managing farms using modern Information and communication technologies.” I agree, but IoT today will bring you only Conventional Agriculture (CA), not Regenerative Agriculture (RA), which is my personal Mission Impossible! Via the Angat Buhay rotavator, my RA brings you much farming rewards and much more punishments to Climate Change.

Gevo says (undated, “Better Methods Improve Crop Yields The Right Way,” Gevo.com, gevo.com):

It all starts with the soil. Healthy soil enables renewable, sustainable, carbon raw materials. Around our plant in Luverne, Minnesota, soil carbon is increasing as farmers use sustainable farming practices.

I agree 100%. starts with the soil – and the “Angat Buhay rotavator” (“AB Rotavator”), gives us brains & beauty farming, insures that, as it creates an automatic layer of organic mulch– zero labor collecting decomposing/decomposable materials to make compost and spreading all that all over the field.

FAO says (Undated “Why Mechanization Is Important,” FAO, fao.org):

Mechanization is a crucial input for agricultural crop production and one that historically has been neglected in the context of developing countries. Factors that reduce the availability of farm power compromise the ability to cultivate sufficient land and have long been recognized as a source of poverty, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasing the power supply to agriculture means that more tasks can be completed at the right time and greater areas can be farmed to produce greater quantities of crops while conserving natural resources. Applying new technologies that are environmentally friendly enables farmers to produce crops more efficiently by using less power.

FAO, that’s great! Without mechanization, farming is limited. Now then, with my brains & beauty farming mechanization, guess what?
(“Girl with produce” from iStock, istockphoto.com)

Mechanization via 1 Samson of a machine fighting 2 Goliaths: Farmer Poverty and Climate Change. I’m now inciting & exciting the girls to beat the boys in farming – with Angat Buhay and me reinventing the rotavator, so that even non-farming girls will be able to show the farming boys how to be intelligent farmers – with much less costs, with much more returns!@517

Ma'am Leni, Here Is My Proposal For You – Love For Food, Healthy Organic Foods Grown By Girls, Starting With Village Sagñay!

PH girls are minding the stores and PH boys are minding the farms – but not growing healthy, organic foods! So? So, let the girls teach the boys how to grow the food of their lives!

I note that Angat Buhay village in your part of PH (06 June 2021, “Sagñay, Camarines Sur launches social housing project, Angat Buhay Village,” Bicol Express News, bicolexpress.news). You VP Ma'am Leni (in photo) graced the groundbreaking ceremony at Barangay Del Carmen, the site for 50 houses for families who had been dwelling in hazard-prone places.

So, with my proposal, we will have a perfect combination: healthy villages growing healthy foods!

Above, already we have organic foods in Naga City such as offered by “Red Platter” (bicolhomepage.wordpress.com). The whole Angat Buhay Village should grow their own organic foods – for villagers to eat healthy, and to sell much more to the public. Good food, better cash.

Initially, the 50 families settling in Del Carmen Angat Buhay Village do not have to know agriculture to be able to successfully grow food. What I am proposing here is an Angat Buhay-funded “Angat Buhay Organics Project” that will be run by the girls.

My contribution to AB Organics Project will be agricultural and intellectual, a re-invention of the rotavator (invented by Australian Arthur Clifford Howard in 1919). We have locally available rotavators, but they all need to be reinvented so that each will, without training of the operator, produce on the field a layer of soil-plant mix that start to become organic fertilizer the moment it is created – automatically!

Ma'am Leni, what we have to do, of course with the knowledge of Kiko Pangilinan, your would-have-been VP, because he is a farmer – is to redesign the rotavator so that while it cultivates, it also creates an automatic mulch.

Earlier, I called the process “Mulching Matilda” (see my 24 Dec 2021 essay, “PH Farmers Want Cost Of Fertilizer Way Down – Much Better, Yield & Net Income Way Up!” covid21fah.blogspot.com). The girls, whether familiar with farming or not, will be waltzing their way to good, organic food with the use of that converted rotavator I will now call “Angat Buhay Rotavator.” Once reconfigured – according to my calculations – it will create a layer of organic mulch in any weedy field automaticallyeven if the operator does not know anything about farming and/or mulching!

With me, an alumnus of UP Los Baños and the UPLB Alumni Association valuing me as an “Outstanding Alumnus” (2011), we will produce the first “AB Rotavator” at the College of Engineering & Agro-Industrial Technology of UP Los Baños at the UPLB campus, where you also find IRRI and PhilRice. (For the amount necessary for coming up with the funding to produce the “AB Rotavator,” PM me on Facebook.)

Sold units of the reinvented rotavator will grow more intelligent farmers – and raise more funds! Note my blog’s name and focus: “Communication for Village Development in the 21st Century.” For Village Sagñay, intelligent agriculture is key.@517