Credit & Climate – Reviewing PH Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) 2020 Report On Nationally Low Credit Availability & Availment, Here’s Worldly Advice – Flood Farmers’ Fields With Easy Loans On Organic Agriculture!

Shockingly, the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) annual report “2020 State Of Agricultural Finance” states that PH banks’ overall compliance to the Agri-Agra Law of 2009 was only 10% – despite the fact that the banking system generated a total of P6,500,000,000,000 (P6.5 Trillion) loanable funds! Meaning, measly credit was availed of by farmers and fishers who needed it the most. Credit assistance – our farmers fail because we fail our farmers!

Even if, as I understand, the DA did its credit best. The ACPC report says:

The Department of Agriculture (DA) continues to provide services and resources needed by the country’s farmers, fishers and agri-fishery-based micro and small enterprises…  (intended to produce) adequate supply of food.

Some 31% or 509 municipalities, outside the National Capital Region, were still unbanked or without any banking office. Mindanao had the highest proportion of unbanked municipalities, 51%.

It is interesting to note that despite (or maybe because of) the pandemic, loans for both agricultural production as well as transportation and storage grew by the same rate of 6% in 2020 from previous year’s level.

State or private controls are holding back growth of loan use? The report says “Universal and Commercial Banks (UCBs) continue(d) to be the predominant lenders to agriculture, owning 93% of the total agricultural loan exposure of the entire banking system.”

Collectively, thrift banks (TBs) and rural and cooperative banks (RCBs) “had roughly the same size of portfolio dedicated to the agriculture section, each sharing 4% of the total in both years” (2019 and 2020).

Therefore, I say the ACPC needs to come up with a comprehensive policy pronouncement & some promotional activities covering TBs and RCBs to encourage farmers & fishers for them to enjoy a great amount of the total national loanable funds. Farmers and fishers are not conscious of credit because we are not conscious of credit ourselves?
(“LoanTap” image from Loantap.in)

RA 10000 (Agri-Agra Reform Credit Act of 2009) “aims to provide an agriculture, fisheries, and agrarian reform credit and financing system to improve the productivity of the agriculture and fisheries sector,” requiring each bank to set aside at least 25% of loanable funds: 10% agrarian, and 15% agriculture. In 2020, the banking system generated a total of P6.5 Trillion: By law, P651 Billion was to be allocated for agrarian credit (Agra) and P976 Billion for agricultural credit (Agri). Banks, however, were only able to provide Agri-Agra assistance amounting to about P663 Billion, or only 10% Overall Assistance, 90% No-Demand.

We have to give credit to whom credit is due!

Here’s my original if unsolicited advice to banks to move heaven & earth: Package tempting loans for organic agriculture (OA), because OA reduces much, much the cost of farming, produces only healthy foods, and eliminates 100% greenhouse gases from farmers’ fields. By this, Filipino farmers can teach the world how to defeat 3 Goliaths with 1 Stone: Farmer Poverty, Unhealthy Foods, and Climate Change!@517

AmCham Philippines – Gentlemen, You Will Love To Invest More As You Become David Who Defeats 3 Goliaths With The Same Single Stone – Organic Agriculture Vs Farmer Poverty, Unhealthy Foods & Climate Change!

I know next to nothing about going into business, so this time I will play it by ear. All I can see right now is opportunities, given the obstacles. With and beyond British wit Oscar Wilde, I see the doughnuts, I see through the holes!

Who happens to be the most optimistic fellow about Philippine agriculture right now? I happen to be that one, a wild, wide reader since high school, UP '65 Agriculturist, Educator (BSA major in Ag Edu, Civil Service Professional), self-styled warrior writer since 1975, and inveterate blogger since 2000. The only problems are that I have neither capital nor business acumen! Instead, I am an encourager. The motivation and media style are reflected in the title of my blog: For A (Happier) Philippines!

At the Department of Agriculture (DA), here comes Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, ANN says, talking to and trying to convince members of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) to put their money where their mouth is and invest in the sector that is “ready for big leagues entrepreneurship” (Author Not Named, 05 March 2022, “Sec Dar Convinces AmCham Members To Invest In Philippine Agri,” DA.gov.ph).
(AmCham logo from LinkedIn.com)

About this American group doing business in these islands, their own website says (AmCham Philippines, amchamphilippines.com):

Incorporated in 1920, the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) has been striving to contribute to the Philippine economic growth for the socioeconomic development of the Filipinos.

AmCham is 102 years old! That means this group stuck with the Filipinos in their struggle for independence from the US of A (1945), and from the internal strife called “People Power” against PH President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos (1986). AmCham has not given up on us – so why should we?

Here comes Mr Dar urging AmCham to open their eyes wider and discover more business opportunities in the Philippines, notwithstanding the Covid19 hullabaloo. Our country, he says, is “ready for big leagues entrepreneurship.”

And what is there to encourage AmCham’s business-mindedness now? Mr Dar says:

Our creativity led us to the transformations of Philippine agriculture we are quite proud of now, and we hope to kindle vibrant entrepreneurship through it. We want you there with us at this new turn.

Let us learn more about this group, AmCham. Its website says:

Its service… started as the Manila Coffee Round Table (1902) and later as the Manila Merchants Association. Although with different names, the Chamber’s commitment did not waver through time. It has been true to its commitment of developing and looking after the welfare of American businesses in the Philippines.

Now then, AmCham, you must be committed to the development and looking after more American businesses in the Philippines!

AmCham, more than Big Business in Organic Agriculture, you will be Big David helping defeat 3 Modern Goliaths: Farmer Poverty, Unhealthy Foods, and Climate Change. Find out more – find out now!@517

Huge Political Change Coming To The Philippines – Whom Should We Vote For As President To Save Us From Ourselves As Our Own Enemies As We Are Co-Creators Of Climate Change!?

On Facebook, their followers are very noisy about their preferred Presidentiables, seemingly the 2 frontrunners being Leni Robredo, currently PH Vice President, and Bongbong Marcos (BBM), currently jobless. People are excited about their preferred candidates – but nobody is talking about one of the, if not the most important problem that the next PH President should tackle: Climate Change. (I leave Corruption to others.)

(Robredo-Marcos photo, Rappler.com)

Personally, I don’t think that either Leni or BBM knows about this deadly un-natural enemy of the people, so I will now volunteer what I know and what is/are doable. If they both pick up the challenge, may the best wo/man win!

The lower image above, my 24 Aug 2016 photograph onscreen of a scene inside the UPLB campus after a typhoon, shows the deadly un/natural power of climate change. It is a stark reminder that our practice of Agriculture is largely contributing to climate change in the form of greenhouse gases coming from chemical fertilizers. Those gases are invisible, but their eventual damage is visible and very destructive.

(See also my 06 March 2022 essay, “Today, Sunday, 06 March 2022, UP Los Baños Celebrates Its 113th Founding Anniversary – When It Comes To Agriculture In Relation To Climate Change, Has My Alma Mater Grown Wiser Or Simply Grown Older? Asking For A Friend!” For A (Happier) Philippines! Blogspot.com. It’s funny at our own expense!)

So, it becomes imperative for me, if not for you as a voter, to select a Presidentiable who appreciates, not necessarily knows much, about climate change and the crucial role that agriculture plays in cultivating, as it were, the deadly forces collectively known as “Climate Change” – chemical agriculture contributes to our Earth’s atmosphere so much greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the forms of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – and it is these GHGs that warm the Earth unnaturally and bring havoc on all of us creatures great and small.

If any Presidentiable is listening, it should be an easy one on the wisdom of a subsequent presidential decree on agriculture – declaring that henceforth Philippine farming should all the time practice Organic Agriculture (OA), and no longer Chemical Agriculture (CA). Government will not punish the CA farmers, but will offer very attractive incentives to OA farmers.

Even without government incentives, in the practice of organic agriculture, farmers will find, will be amazed at 3 things they have never witnessed before in their lives:

(1)   OA makes farming very easy and very rewarding in terms of income. Why because CA costs much, much more than OA!

(2)   Farm crops grown via OA yield healthy vegetables and fruits that nourish the body, reducing and eventually eliminating food-related diseases. And they are priced higher.

(3)   OA reduces climate change – No more GHGs highly warming Earth’s atmosphere!

We need Primate Change at the top so that we can proceed with Citizen Change below so that we can defeat Climate Change from above!@517

Today, Sunday, 06 March 2022, UP Los Baños Celebrates Its 113th Founding Anniversary – When It Comes To Agriculture In Relation To Climate Change, Has My Alma Mater Grown Wiser Or Simply Grown Older? Asking For A Friend!

How healthy is my alma mater UP College of Agriculture (UPCA, now UP Los Baños) as it turns 113 years old Sunday, 06 March 2022? I know it is very healthy physically – what about intellectually? In the topmost image, you see the sculptural multi-piece Man, Carabao & Plow still prominently displayed in what is lovingly called “Carabao Plaza.” Absent tractor of any kind. UPLB has not outgrown the wooden plow?
(Carabao-Man-Plow image from flickr.com, date image among 2019 photos I took)

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Fortifying Collaborations With Industry And Communities” (Jessa Jael S Arana, 01 Mar 2022, “UPLB To Mark 113th Foundation Day Anniversary,” UP Los Baños, UPLB.edu.ph). The first UPCA Dean was Edward Bingham Copeland, a botanist. As an UPCA alumnus, BSA Ag Edu 1965, I know botanists are strictly technical in language, not popular – they can hardly relate to society at large. Thus, scientific tradition explains why 113-year old UPLB does not speak much popular language despite its College of Development Communication, which espouses Development Communication (DevCom). DevCom was first established on 01 July 1962 as the Department of Agricultural Communication (devcom.edu.ph). Expectedly, as with its mother agency, DevCom has not pursued climate change on its own.

It was the Americans, some of the Thomasites, who set up the UP College of Agriculture. What could we expect? In the US, in 1849, chemical fertilizers were already being sold commercially (Mary Bellis, “History Of American Agriculture,” ThoughtCo, thoughtco.com), 60 years before the Americans established UPCA – so what else would/could they teach except chemical agriculture?

It is proudly called “Carabao Plaza” and displayed right in the middle of the road leading to the main campus. I cannot explain this very-public sculptural display when it only shows artifacts – those items belong in the Museum of Natural History that UPLB has!

UPLB has yet to relate its agriculture to climate change and what farmers can do about it – to stop emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from farms, to shift from chemical agriculture to organic agriculture, if slowly.

Yes, I just found out that UPLB instituted the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Studies Center (CCDRSC) in 2013, which is an institutional elevation of a climate change program set up in 2007. Now I ask, in the absence of any technical paper or popular article in digital media coming from UP Los Baños about chemical agriculture and its contributions to climate change, which are GHGs carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide (not to mention nitrates that poison drinking water) – when is UPLB going to institutionally recommend organic agriculture (OA) instead of chemical agriculture (CA) because OA does not while CA does produce GHGs?

UP has always been anti-this and anti-that; will history and Filipinos forgive UP for not being anti-chemical agriculture?

Today, I ask 113-year-old UP Los Baños when will it begin to teach institutionally organic agriculture? Asking for a friend!@517

Teddy Baguilat Is My #1 Candidate-Senator, Ifugao-Gaddang, Representing Natives In Their Habitats. My Advice Is Regenerative Agriculture: With A Rainbow Of Crops, “Rice Terraces” Become “Nice Terraces”!

Beyond the Ukraine-Russia-induced crisis, the world is engulfed in the Climate Crisis – and Man must take care of his Environment, or that will take care of him worse than a World War!

Wikipedia says Teddy Baguilat graduated from UP Diliman with a BA in Mass Communication major in Journalism. Well, this journalist will now make his world more colorful.
(Baguilat image from TNT.abante.com.ph)

Mr Baguilat is President of the Global Consortium for Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCA Consortium), advisory to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (en.wikipedia.org). He also has a foundation with the aim of helping students and protecting the environment.

Environment is a subject that the other senatorial candidates cannot claim as being familiar with – and I can claim it as an agriculturist (UP '65) and as Editor In Chief & Founder of the 3 publications of the Forest Research Institute (FORI), 1975-1981: monthly newsletter Canopy, quarterly technical journal Sylvatrop, and quarterly popular magazine. In FORI, I enjoyed many intellectual bites off the environment.

As Mr Baguilat would know working as ICCA Consortium President, biological diversity is as necessary as air to humans. Practices such as multiple cropping and/or intercropping are necessary for better agribusiness as well as better environment. Monocultures are anathema to healthful communities.

Now then, Mr Baguilat will understand what I said in an earlier essay (09 Feb 2022, “Organic Agriculture – Simultaneously Solving Farmer Poverty & Bad Health & Climate Change – Killing 3 Global Goliaths With 1 Stone!” For A (Happier) Philippines! Blogspot.com): That farmers must practice organic agriculture, that is aside from multiple cropping. Organic agriculture regenerates the soil; multiple cropping regenerates the environment.

Gina Lopez, Environment Secretary said, “We keep the light shining brightly in our hearts and that light will bring on our future” (Daisy Langenegger’s Facebook sharing). Climate Change is now obviously endangering that future. It is high time that the Philippine Congress pay attention to what we must do against Climate Change. Today, we need Regenerative Agriculture in order to regenerate healthy food and pleasant weather. If our practice of agriculture continues to contribute greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change, if we don’t stop that, we are insane!

In 2010, Mr Baguilat won as representative of the lone district of Ifugao, and succeeded in the campaign to preserve the Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras. Preserve? I have a better idea: Prettify! To make all those rice terraces enchanting and at the same time help combat climate change, my advice is:

To make “Nice Terraces” – Terrace by terrace, grow vegetables, flowers, ornamentals, rice, fruit trees. In any combination. Stop the monoculture Rice Terraces and Start the multi-culture Nice Terraces! And forward Organic Farming, forsake Chemical Agriculture!
(image: rainbow terraces from behance.net)

As agriculturist, I see the need to regenerate soils; as voter, I see that with Mr Baguilat as Senator, we will regenerate the Senate into an environment-conscious lawmaking body. Today, we need all the intelligent help we can get!@517

“Immediate & Resolute Approval.” Good Work, PRRD! Good Work, Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar! If You Have A Good Plan, People Will See And Sign In

Highly unusual, but ANN uses the words “immediate and resolute approval” by PRRD of several proposals submitted by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar “to cushion the impact of global economic challenges and Russia-Ukraine crisis on Philippine food security” (Author Not Named, 02 Mar 2022, “PRRD Approves Food Security Measures Amid Global Challenges And Ukraine Crisis,” DA.gov.ph). Thinking, this journalist says if you have a sure plan, people will sign in for sure.

“Food security” for all. An agriculturist and self-proclaimed apostle of communication for village development since 2021 (CoViD21), I salute PRRD for saying, during that first-day-of-March cabinet meeting: “We should help our farmers and fishers to be more productive, and earn decent income.”

Food Security must come with Overall Agriculture Security!

That is an acknowledged international truth. The World Bank knows it. ANN says this body reported 17 months ago this (Author Not Named, 09 Sept 2020, Philippines: Vibrant Agriculture Is Key To Faster Recovery And Poverty Reduction,” World Bank, worldbank.org):

Transforming Philippine agriculture into a dynamic, high-growth sector is essential for the country to speed up recovery, poverty reduction and inclusive growth, according to the latest report released by the World Bank.

Note that “transforming Philippine agriculture into a dynamic, high-growth sector” is necessary to accomplish 3 things: (1) speed up recovery of economy, (2) reduce poverty, and (3) promote growth inclusive of all.

I repeat: “Inclusive of all.” As Agriculture grows, the whole Philippines grows – as Agriculture stunts, the whole Philippines stunts. Primarily, the economy of the country, any country, comes from the soil.

That cabinet meeting in Malacañang, also attended by top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police, was “to discuss possible scenarios should the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict continue and escalate.” Food security, people security.

PRRD also approved the recommendations of his economic team, led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, on the domestic economy, food prices, and social protection.

Mr Dar said, “It is imperative and urgent for the Philippine government to ensure that we have adequate, affordable and accessible supply of basic food items, and agricultural inputs to ensure continued productivity and increased incomes of farmers and fisherfolk.” The Russia-Ukraine conflict would disrupt international commerce; consider that the Philippines imports, among other things, oil, chemical fertilizers & pesticides.

Food first of all.

Mr Dar said, according to ANN:

If we fail to act now, the net result is high food prices and inflation, resulting in food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition. Thus, we thank President Duterte for his decisive action on the matter.

Decisive leaders for proposing, and decisive leaders for approving funds to carry out the proposals. Plans and funds must come together.

The measures approved by the President will further boost higher food production in the country, and provide our farmers, fishers, and rural folk much-needed incomes amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

My CoViD21 opinion: “The prime movers of our economy are our farmers, fishers and families in the villages!”@517

In Union There Is Strength! PhilRice Isabela Shows In Its Territorial Region 2 & CAR That Farmer Cooperation With Business-Mindedness Is The Combined Key To Prosperity In The Villages

When I saw the topmost image on Facebook, immediately I said to myself, “Abundance and Cooperation.” I supposed that, with so many full bags of rice, people loading into a waiting vehicle, and someone gesturing, “Alright!”

The scene is courtesy of PhilRice Isabela dated 24 Feb 2022. The Facebook post says:

MarDag RiceBIS Agriculture Cooperative got a 50-centavo higher price per kilogram of fresh palay by marketing the produce of its members together.

MarDag is the Marasat Grande and Dagupan RiceBIS farmer group in San Mateo, Isabela – with an initial 103 members in Oct 2018 (PhilRice.gov.ph) – membership un-updated. RiceBIS is the “Rice Business Innovations System” propagated by PhilRice. Now then, I say: “PhilRice means business!” Now I know business is what I saw in the topmost image without someone articulating it.

The Facebook post says:

An initial harvest totaling 57,888 kg of palay was consolidated and marketed to the buyer with the highest buying price, giving (MarDag) an increased income of P28,944 for (its) first deal.

Being the son of a farmer and an agriculture graduate (UP '65), I know that with farmers, a single income of P28,944 is something to be happy about! It is very much welcome – note in the image someone showing a thumbs-up. Not identified, but he may be Jose Guillermo, MarDag's Palay Trading Coordinator. He says about the deal:

Ito ang kagandahan ng organisadong pagsasaka at pagbebenta. Nakakahanap kami ng buyer na mas makakapagbigay sa amin ng magandang presyo.
(“This is the beauty of organized farming and selling. We are able to locate a buyer who is able to give us an attractive price.” – my translation)

I am glad PhilRice is earnestly into cooperatives. Our small farmers will thus survive – and thrive. (Note: PhilRice can help organize them but only structurally; they have to help themselves, themselves.)

The Facebook post says more:

Farm clustering and consolidation of harvest is a strategy initiated by the (RiceBIS) Community Project to increase the income of smallholder farmers.

The territorial imperative of PhilRice Isabela, which is now under Director Joy Bartolome Duldulao, is Region 2 and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). To be more accurate, farm clustering with consolidation of operations is a strategy originated and emphasized by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, head of the Department of Agriculture (DA); PhilRice is under the DA.

Another report on PhilRice Isabela farmers is enthusiastic. Christina Frediles says (“It’s All About Willingness, Commitment,” Philippine Rice Research Institute, philrice.gov.ph), who quotes Ofelia Malonzo, RiceBIS lead implementer in Isabela, as saying:

Volunteerism is the key – the farmers who believe that the program can better their lives will join. It took guts. We knew that inviting people to join and commit would be challenging. And since (women) saw that RiceBIS could be a big help to our community, (women) volunteered.

Congratulations, DA, PhilRice Isabela and Director Duldulao. Taken together, you are an inspiring big help to farmers in Region 2 and CAR!@517

For Farmers To Become Wealthy, I Advise Organic, What I Call “Weeds-Enriched Agricultural Layup Triggering Terrestrial Health” WEALth – Maximum Growth & Minimal Expense!

Top image: You have to know the essence of what you’re doing, or what you want others to learn, if you are an adviser, educator, or a trainor. It turns out that Dodong Cacanando, an entrepreneur counselor, knows the first basis of growing healthy crops: a healthy soil!

Bottom image: “Artificial fertilizers are why you’re broke” – Freedom Brothers on Regenerative Agriculture, the practice of agriculture I began espousing earnestly only the 2^nd week of this February. I am an agriculturist, UP '65, aged 81+ – Better late than never!

My son-of-a-farmer’s heart has always been in sympathy with farmers who toil hard & long in the fields even now with modern technologies & systems, but remain near, at or below the poverty level. Possessing & practicing a business sense is of course crucial, but there are 3 more fundamental aspects of Chemical Agriculture (CA) anywhere on Earth – one, CA deprives the soil of its wealth; two, CA deprives the farmer of much-deserved profit; and three, CA deprives the Earth of climate health because it causes the generation of greenhouse gases that exacerbate climate change.

The fruitful image above is a 01 March 2022 Facebook sharing by Jim Leandro from a lesson on “The Responsibilities Of The Leader” Session 2 of the ongoing “The Entrepreneur's Journey Level Up Program” by Dodong Cacanando, an entrepreneur (Facebook). The definitive text reads:

If you want a plant to be fruitful,
do not focus on the fruits.
Instead, focus your energy on growing a healthy plant.

That makes me extremely glad that regenerative organic agriculture can be perfectly understood even by managers who are not into farming. Mr Cacanando has the perfect analogy for fruitfulness or generative capacity, and I hereby thank him immensely!

Now then, just this month, I intuited that organic agriculture was the one-and-only solution for this Modern Triad of Problems: (1) farmer poverty, (2) unhealthy foods, and (3) climate change (see my essay on 15 Feb 2022, “For A Happier & Healthier Habitat Philippines! Triple A For Agriculture,” in a new blog for what I know would be “A Forever Series” – For A (Happier) Philippines! Blogspot.com).

(For your information, I have been blogging everyday since January 2020, or for the last 26 months, for a total of 790 essays. At my age, my personal cause for communication for village development starting last year has been regenerating me!)

As you will read in the essay I mentioned above, my organic formula is not a fertilizer made in the classical sense but itself a marriage of soil and weeds simultaneously cut and mixed in one proper rotavator operation over the field – the process I call WEALth: “weeds-enriched agriculture layup triggering terrestrial health.” The WEALth of that field thus enriches it naturally, illustrating the truth of what Mr Cacanando says:

“If you want a plant to be fruitful, do not focus on the fruits. Instead, focus your energy on growing a healthy plant.” You begin from the beginning – Soil.@517

Farmers’ Progress – What People Power (Edsa 1986) Did Not Liberate Us From – Limited Thinking About Farmer Prosperity

I was afraid to go to Edsa and join untold numbers to say by their very presence, “Goodbye, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, we don’t love you anymore!” I thought it was unsafe.

(Edsa image stuartexchange.org)

But I kept listening to the radio, and on Thursday, when I thought the tide was turning in favor of Mr Marcos, I decided to and did go Friday, 25 February, walking from Guadalupe Bridge to the government station Channel 4 where they were inviting people to speak out.

Already a much-accomplished and known Writer and Editor in Agriculture and Forestry, and with firsthand and second-hand knowledge of how loggers have been cutting down trees beyond our forests’ natural power to replenish themselves, depriving future generations of heritage species and spaces – I did not volunteer to speak out. I had been a rebel in writing, but hardly in speaking.

So, People Power overthrew the Marcos Dictatorship – that was all. After 36 years, 26 Feb 1986-26 Feb 2022, poor farmers are still poor. We have failed our own farmers!

The son of a not-poor-not-rich farmer and an Agriculturist (UP '65), I always have had the agrarian welfare in mind. And so, as since 1975 a self-styled one-man band communicator for village development – writer, editor, layout artist, desktop publisher, blogger – I must blame my lack of imagination for not having contributed to the liberation of the Filipino farmer from poverty.

Looking at the agrarian situations before and after People Power, I see that they are exactly the same:

Post-Edsa, we have not emancipated the tillers of the soil from the slavery of “Land Tenure” – The self-limiting creed that each farmer must have the title to the piece of land he is tilling in order to prosper.
(“Bloom” image from me.me)

Thank God, on Tuesday, 06 Aug 2019, from a poor family in Ilocos Sur William Dar was appointed as Secretary of Agriculture. Before that, he presented in his Manila Times column of 13 Jun 2019, “The ‘New Thinking’ For Agriculture” (manilatimes.net). The way I see it, Mr Dar purposely excluded land tenure and instead included farm consolidation, farmers’ groupings, cooperatives – and agri-entrepreneurship. As Philippine history has shown since People Power, our farmers remain enslaved by their limited business-mindedness. We have failed them!

For the good of the farmers, in the manner of The Ten Commandments as it were, The New Thinking included The Eight Paradigms:

I have conceptualized eight paradigms to level up the country’s agriculture sector: modernization must continue; industrialization of agriculture is key; promotion of exports is a necessity; consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms; roadmap development would be crucial; infrastructure development would be critical; higher budget and investment for Philippine agriculture (are required); and legislative support is needed.

I say the behavior of farmers and their leaders will be in tune with the Spirit of Edsa 1986 when they abandon their old thinking of land ownership as a prerequisite for promotion to prosperity. Otherwise, we pity them because they themselves are only deceiving themselves!@517

Unannounced, “The Think Revolution” In PH Has Been Happening Via Agriculture, With The Quiet Leadership Of Agriculture Secretary William Dar

“Let Leni Lead,” Leni Robredo’s supporters would say. “Let The Mind Lead” I would say. Theirs is The Pink Revolution. An agriculturist and a communicator for village development, I find more meaning in The Think Revolution that involves millions of farmers. This Revolution has very few people paying attention to and supporting it.

That explains the images above: blue heads communicating from Dreamstime.com, aggie-related scenes in a single Windows 10 accidental collage the photograph of which I took from my external 20-in ViewSonic monitor. And why did I superimpose a profile of Mr Dar right in the middle of the composite image? Because he is the Thinker of The Think Revolution!

The truth is, some 2 months before he was appointed Secretary, on Monday, 03 Jun 2019, in his Manila Times column, Mr Dar came out with his “The ‘New Thinking’ For Agriculture” (manilatimes.net), where he said:

I can affirm we can double the income of farmers and fisherfolk in three years, also taking into account value-adding activities and the downstream industries they can create.

For the New Thinking for agriculture, he said:

I have conceptualized eight paradigms to level up the country’s agriculture sector: modernization must continue; industrialization of agriculture is key; promotion of exports is a necessity; consolidation of small- and medium-sized farms; roadmap development would be crucial; infrastructure development would be critical; higher budget and investment for Philippine agriculture (are required); and legislative support is needed.

Note: New Thinking with its 8 paradigms – Mr Dar is an original thinker.

Repeat: He said, “I can affirm we can double the income of farmers and fisherfolk in three years.” But then, because of the occurrence of multiple cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19), on Sunday, 08 Mar 2020, PH President Rodrigo Roa Duterte issued a state of public health emergency, and things have not been the same since – while your thoughts are free, your movements are not. And the Philippines has never been the same again, to put it mildly.

Covid-19 notwithstanding, undaunted as a whole, the New Thinking For Agriculture continues.

Now, why did I choose Blue as color for The Think Revolution?

According to Colour Affects (colour-affects.co.uk), the color Blue is “Intellectual” and “positive” representing “Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.” And you know what? Those words aptly describe the current Secretary of Agriculture – William Dar!
(image, mnh.ph)

I wrote about his appointment in excitement; see my 1^st essay on the subject: “William Dar Is Agriculture Secretary & DA Is All Over The Place – So Is Science!” 07 Sept 2019, Ani Kita, Blogspot.com). A Thinker in Science.

“The Think Revolution” – No, nobody has ever heard of it because, alone, I just thought of that name today, Sunday, 27 Feb 2022.

The Think Revolution has been happening, quietly being carried out all over the Philippines by agencies and agents of the DA, collectively referred to as “OneDA” – it waits to be shared by millions, if silently, and consciously so.@517

Is This The Morning Of A New PH Nationalism As Well As Dedicated Journalism In Agriculture Cultivating Farmers’ Progress?

Happily: From my observation since 2019, PH Agriculture is looking good – we are looking at the sunrise of farming – despite Covid-19 etc. Unhappily: At the same time, we are looking at the private media’s overall journalism that is hardly dedicated to prosperity in the lives of Filipino farm families. And no presidential or senatorial candidate is talking about agriculture, the #1 industry in the Philippines.

On Facebook today, Saturday, 28 February 2022, Maris Diokno is un/happily sharing her father Jose W Diokno’s legacies of Human Rights and Nationalism – “Remembering Dad” – saying, with I noting Maris’ brother Chel Diokno is running for the office of Senator:

The victory we aspire for in May 2022 is not about ourselves but about causes way beyond us: justice and equity and dignity as human beings and as a people – in Dad’s words, “a nation full of hope and full of joy, full of life and full of love.”

Happily, as a journalist and an agriculturist (UP '65), instantly and wholeheartedly, when I read “a nation full of hope and full of joy, full of life and full of love,” I think of Agriculture. Unhappily, I think of the millions of Filipino farmers Not full of hope, Not full of joy, Not full of life, and Not full of love!

All those 4 Nots on Filipino farming not enjoyed by farmers, I blame on journalists not full of hope, not full of joy, not full of life, and not full of love when they write!

Concrete example: Since March 2019 at least, I have been googling & writing about Philippine Agriculture – and I have not found any private journalist or opinion writer mentioning even in passing current Secretary of Agriculture William Dar’s “New Thinking About Agriculture” along with the paradigms providing its “infrastructure.” I am quite sure not one of our PH journalists knows what the new thinking is, what are those paradigms and how many – and how do they relate to Philippine agriculture as envisioned by Mr Dar.

If PH journalists do not relate to the bigger picture, how can they be trusted to deliver good news on agriculture?!

Necessarily, PH journalists will have to learn what I call “CoViD21” – from Communication for Village Development – the “21” being a reminder of 2 things: (a) Covid-19, and (b) that I thought of it in 2021. Better late than never! CoViD21 is my optimistic view of the coming PH Agriculture – that Organic Agriculture will enrich more farming families and villages.

If you have been reading me, you know organic agriculture equals regenerative agriculture, our saving grace – fundamentally, we restore the health of the earth. Regenerative agriculture is our Samson defeating with a single stone 3 Goliaths: farmer poverty, unhealthy foods, and climate change.@517

INSPIRED! With Advices From World Organizations, Now P3 Billion Total Funds To Philippine Hog Raisers To Defeat That Dreadful Asian Swine Fever (ASF), With Zero Interest Up To P15 Million Individual Loans Offered

Philippines: With what do you defeat an enemy like the dreaded Asian Swine Fever (ASF) that at its worst eliminated 1.7 million pigs? With foreign advices and local advances, an abundance of allotments included. Ask for help; help yourself.
(swine image from eCompareMo, ecomparemo.com)

Advice: Christine Cudis says (25 Jan 2022, “PH Cites Int’l Partners’ Help In Dealing With ASF,” PNA.gov.ph):

As it seeks to completely eradicate African swine fever (ASF), the Department of Agriculture (DA) (via its) Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said mentorship from international groups helped strengthen their programs.

BAI Director Reildrin Morales said groups such as the World Organization for Animal Health, Food & Agriculture Organization, and agencies under the Canadian and Spanish governments (have been) helpful in (consultations) on how to effectively end ASF.

Lessons learned, the DA has launched Bantay ASF sa Barangay (BABay ASF) and the Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery & Expansion (INSPIRE) Program, implemented by the National Livestock Program.

On 17 Jan, the French government committed to the DA assistance in securing a vaccine against the ASF.

In the meantime, Eireene Jairee Gomez says (07 Jan 2022, “PH Winning Against ASF, Says DA,” Manila Times, manilatimes.net):

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Philippines is on track towards eradicating the dreaded African Swine Fever (ASF)… In a virtual briefing, DA Assistant Secretary Noel Reyes reported that the ASF virus is (now only) present in remaining 43 barangays in 16 municipalities as of end-December.

Mr Reyes said, "Lumiliit na po (It is decreasing). We're winning the war against ASF. Tulong-tulong lang po iyan (It's all a matter of cooperation)."

In May last year, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Proclamation 1143, placing the country under the state of calamity for 1 year due to ASF, unless earlier lifted.  Pro1143 allows local government units (LGUs) to set aside part of their Local Risk Reduction & Management Fund (calamity fund) for ASF.

Additionally, through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), the DA has assigned P300 Million for lending to backyard and semi-commercial hog raisers in “green zones” (ASF-free areas).

ANN says in total, the DA has allotted P3 Billion to revive the swine industry, with P1.2 Billion for BABay ASF, and P872 Million for INSPIRE (Author Not Named, 21 Sept 2021, “DA-ACPC Increases Loan Fund For Hog Raisers To P800M, Upping Swine Recovery Efforts To P3B,” DA.gov.ph). INSPIRE is a 3-year repopulation program. From 2021 to 2023, the DA targets to produce 440,563 breeders and 10.5 Million finishers.

ACPC Director Jocelyn Badiola says eligible borrowers include individual, start-up, and semi-commercial swine raisers (SCSR), small enterprises, and farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs). An individual can borrow up to P 300,000, start-up P1 M, SCSR P3 M, and small enterprises and FCAs P15 M. The loans have zero interest, and are payable up to 5 years.

All in all, for the pork that I love, the DA has me INSPIRED!@517

“The Francis Effect” – Can We Catholics Save The World From Its Destructive Preferences For Consumer Products Causing Climate Change? This Francis Says, “We Begin With Farmers!”

Filipinos on Facebook keep talking about the coming May elections, especially the next President of the Philippines. They hardly talk about Climate Change that have spawned violent storms causing many deaths and much destruction in the country. Being ignored is Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” (“Praise Be To You, My Lord”) for Catholics to act vs Climate Change. Much more Catholic than Americans, where is “The Francis Effect” among Filipinos?!

Meanwhile, for effect, this Francis will keep on writing about Primate Change for Climate Change – especially about how farmers can save much money in farming, and grow more healthy foods and earn more, at the same time Stop Climate Change!

The graph above shows Agriculture contributing only 10% of total greenhouse gases (GHGs). Numbers misleading, to say the least. That 10% should be 40% or more because chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides are produced and handled from start to finish of 84% total GHGs: Transportation 29%, Electric Power 25%, Industry 23%, and Commercial 7%.

In 2015, Pope Francis issued the encyclical “Laudato Si’, MI’ Signore” (Praise Be To You, My Lord), which called on Roman Catholics to “Care for Our Common Home.” He was calling us to decrease energies spent on transportation, electricity, industry, and commerce.

In 2016, a year after the encyclical, I blogged my essay “BIAG Economics: Brand-New Intellectualization of Agriculture” (14 April 2016, Primate Change, Blogspot.com), where I called for:
No chemical fertilizers.
No organic fertilizers.
No pests.
No pesticides.
No drought.
Highest yields.
Least cost total.
Water conserved.
Plant anytime.
Beautiful view.
Beautiful insects to watch.
Pleasant weather around.
Greenhouse gases avoided.

By “No organic fertilizers” I was referring to the way I prepared organic surface mulch that I now call Weeds-Enriched Agriculture Layup (WEAL) – it’s not fertilizer per se but the start of regenerative agriculture, where the weeds return soil fertility naturally, with the farmer initiating the process.

Note the compound word in the process: “Weeds-Enriched Agriculture Layup.” Weeds-enriched – my brainchild, improving on American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner’s “trash farming” procedure. I read that process in his book Plowman’s Folly published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1943 (oupress.com) – I discovered it 1965-66 at the open shelves of the library of UP Los Baños. Creative, I have always been a wide reader.

Later, I reinvented Faulkner’s “trash farming” process by starting with a Howard rotavator, L blades cutting down to only 2-3 inches – no packing of the soil. Guy Machinery says (“Selecting Blade Type,” 2016, guymachinery.com): “L blades are… designed to fit a constant depth across the full width of tillage…” The rotavator cuts soil and weeds (and crop refuse if present) simultaneously and mix them within the same rotary motion; as it goes, it leaves an organic mulch evenly spread over the field. The rotavator creates & applies the would-be organic fertilizer automatically!

Thus, to fight Climate Change, farmers should be armed with rotavators whose field use I have endowed The Francis Effect!@517

Zero Greenhouse Gases Within 1 Year – How We Roman Catholics In This Tiny Island In The Pacific Can Show How To Defeat Climate Change Without Leaving Our Villages!?

Saturday, 05 Feb 2022, Philippine Inquirer came out with the editorial “The Bishops’ Bold Move” while there was no news on such concern from any other religious group. And from “higher educational institutions” (HEIs)? No news from HEIs either!

(images: “Bishop pulling the plug” from Inquirer.net, ”Laudato Si” from ICN, indicatholicnews.com, “Philippines” from Shutterstock.com)

And, as far as I know, I am the only journalist in the world who has called for the complete cessation of Chemical Agriculture and institutional initiation of Organic Agriculture by my country. Actually, I did that almost 6 years ago yet! (Read my essay, “BIAG Economics: Brand-New Intellectualization of Agriculture,” 14 April 2016, Primate Change, Blogspot.com.

The Bishops are not talking about the Science of Climate Change – rather, they are talking about the Conscience of Climate Change.

Just last week… the plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) adopted a stance that would surely prove controversial and perhaps even put in peril the Church’s financial security. The bishops, headed by CBCP President Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, decided that henceforth local churches would no longer accept donations from enterprises that are “destructive” to the environment, such as fossil fuel production, mining, and logging. The CBCP statement also urged Church organizations to withdraw, “not later than 2025,” Church resources from banks and other financial institutions (that are) “without clear commitments... to divest from fossil fuels.”

Catholics making History!

The policy adopted by the CBCP, the bishops said, was in line with a 2019 pastoral letter encouraging divestment from industries destructive of the environment, and with Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, Mi’ Signore” (Praise Be To You, My Lord), which called on the faithful to “Care for Our Common Home.”

My recommendation as a Catholic is less directly combative but as effective, if not more so: For farmers to stop causing the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides they apply on crops season after season!

Go whole-hog organic!

My organic fertilizer comes from what I call the process of weeds-enriched agriculture layup (WEAL) – how to do WEAL, see my essay, “For A Happier & Healthier Habitat Philippines! Triple A For Agriculture,” For A (Happier) Philippines! Blogspot.com. Unbelievably negligible cost!

In Sunday sermons, the CBCP should demand that priests relate to the conscience of Catholics the science of chemical agriculture because the hand-tossing of chemical fertilizers and hand-spraying of chemical pesticides are very personal – let the conscience bother the Catholic! The left hand knows what the right hand does!

Further, my advice to the CBCP is “to clear the conscience of Catholic farmers guilty of producing GHGs in their farms” by urging them every Sunday to shift 100% to organic fertilizers and organic pesticides – zero GHGs!

This tiny country in Southeast Asia will then show the big wide world how to defeat climate change and simultaneously solve farmer poverty as well as supply society with healthy foods!@517

In PH, The Internet Goes To School – Only In The Central Luzon State University (CLSU)!

In the Philippines, we have been under Covid19 lockdown starting February 2020 for 2 years, 730 days. A Facebook hound, I see the restrictions have not encouraged educators to travel the Information Superhighway to move the farmers in the manner of Pilgrims’ Progress. Congratulations to Central Luzon State University (CLSU) – of all the state colleges & universities (SCUs), you are #1!

But first, we have to teach the teachers. As an educator (BSA Ag Edu UP '65, Civil Service Professional 1964), a self-appointed warrior writer for agriculture, and an indefatigable blogger, I notice that our SCUs, including my alma mater UP Los Baños, have yet to come out with 100% Internet-based courses and/or educational modules for farmers. SCUs have been on an informational intellectual isolation!

I am excited the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and CLSU have come up with an Internet-initiated instructional program: “eFARM.” Merlina Hernando-Malipot says (“CHEd, Central Luzon State U Launch eFARM Academy,” 16 Feb 2022, Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph):

To help education stakeholders, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Nueva Ecija launched the eFARM (Engaging Food and Agriculture Resources Management) Academy Program. Funded by the CHEd, the P15.4-million project aims to bring technologies and innovations to local and foreign students, life-long learners, farmers, local government units, and Philippine and foreign higher education institutions (HEIs).

CHEd Chair Popoy De Vera “emphasized that the eFARM Academy is part of the Education Tourism (EduTourism) initiative of CHEd that brings together HEIs, local government units (LGUs), and local communities to develop knowledge products, technologies, and activities to make local areas tourist destinations.” eFARM has a fund of P15.4 million from CHEd.

EduTourism – I can see that eFARM’s innovation is turning tourist spots into knowledge areas to attract visitors to stay and learn as well. This is an intellectual improvement of Farm Tourism.

On his part, CLSU President Edgar Orden says eFARM “gives emphasis on the immediate need of educating the world on matters that concern food security.” Project Leader of the eFARM is Gella Patria L Abella of the CLSU Institute for Climate Change & Environmental Management.

[Aside: I hope they discover how organic agriculture can maximize man’s power against climate change – they can read my 10 Feb 2022 essay “Organic Agriculture – Simultaneously Solving Farmer Poverty & Bad Health & Climate Change – Killing 3 Global Goliaths With 1 Stone!” For A (Happier) Philippines! Blogspot.com.]

Eloisa A Mariano says (26 Jan 2022, “CLSU Launches eFARM Academy Website,” clsu.edu.ph) there are 2 projects of the eFARM: “eGROW” and “eKitchen.” Project Leaders are Maria Adrielle S Estigoy (eGROW) and Celyrah Castillo (eKitchen).

Ms Eloisa says Renato Reyes, CLSU Vice President for Academic Affairs, says that eFARM “aims to offer and transfer technologies developed by CLSU.” The technologies in eGROW include aromatic and hybrid rice, organic onion, indoor vertical farming, aquashade system, mushroom, goat, and zero-waste pig farming.

Ms Maria Adrielle says:

“We will make agricultural education more accessible, so that everyone (can get) on board the digital express.”@517