Excellent City Leadership, Deficient PH Journalism! On Butuan City’s "AgriBoost" Being Among 15 Winners In Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge 2021

Yes, Butuan City’s AgriBoost is a Winner in Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge 2021; No, it is not the Grand Prize Winner –only 1 among the 15 winning cities from 13 countries chosen by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

(image from PhilStar.com, Mayor Lagnada 3rd from right)

Of the many reports I googled on the results of the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge(GMC), only 4 got the news right.

Most PH media said Butuan City was the Grand Prize Winner of the Bloomberg GMC, which is very wrong: Butuan is only 1 among 15 winners chosen from a group of 50 Champion Cities. This journalist cannot forgive that journalistic untruth, as googling would have corrected the error. Does this mean Filipino journalists are Lazy Juans?

Pola Rubio says, “Butuan City, Philippines is among the 15 winning cities of the 2021-2022 Global Mayors Challenge announced by Bloomberg Philanthropies Tuesday” (18 Jan, “Butuan Wins Bloomberg Philanthropies Funding For City Programs,” PH.news.yahoo.com):

“AgriBoost,” the city’s winning proposal, is an agribusiness model innovation that improves the agricultural market by giving farmers predictive data to make decisions about the type and quantity of crops to plant. According to Bloomberg, it considered Butuan’s idea on agriculture and marketing as compelling because of its ambitious goals that could be achieved short-term through the initiative.

AgriBoost, ambitious but achievable – with farmers, their cooperatives and marketers collaborate for the good of all, including food consumers. My congratulations to Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada.

On his part, Alexander Lopez of the Philippine News Agency (PNA) says (19 Jan 2022, “Bloomberg Win Big Honor For Butuan: Mayor,” PNA.gov.ph):

AgriBoost is an innovation designed to address the agri-business value chain issues such as boosting the competitiveness of farmers through technical and resource support, demand-driven production, and reliable farm gate pricing.

Government has to support the farmers technically and financially; farmers have to produce according to predicted demands; and growers have to enjoy reliable farm gate prices. On top of that, consumers must enjoy affordable quality vegetables, virtually increasing their purchasing power.

It also strengthens the agricultural hub in the city that helps catalyze market forces, the orchestration of collaborative planning and decision-making among the value chain partners.

ANN says, “The goal of AgriBoost is to ensure that the city’s residents have enough healthy and affordable food while farmers and suppliers receive good prices for their produce” (Author Not Named, 18 Jan 2022, “Butuan, Philippines Wins Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Mayors Challenge, journal.com.ph).

Dwight De Leonsays (“Butuan Wins In Bloomberg’s Global Innovation Contest,” 19 Jan 2022, Rappler.com):

“This brings mixed feelings of pride and honor as we dedicate this win to all of us,” said Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada, in an address to city hall employees.

As with the other winning 14 cities, Butuan City will be awarded $1 million for urban innovation. Also, Butuan City will receive technical support and coaching for 3 years.

Now, is this Bloomberg-news journalistic incident telling me PH journalists have hyperactive minds and super-lazy hands?@517

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons Learned From Roman Catholic “Father Acong” About Successfully Building Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) With Enduring Love

Image
I have been reading & rereading the book “ Father Ciriaco Alberto Sevilla, Jr – MSK Trailblazer” (242 pages, published 2010 in Lucena City, edited by Milwida S Reyes ). A 12-year-old book – is the content still relevant to come up with a new version? My answer is, “Yes!” Personally, I want the book to highlight the love for the poor parishioners that Father Acong showed, as he had single-mindedly created 400+ Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) in the far-flung villages of Quezon Province before he died Oct 2007. If that is not love for the poor, I don’t know what love is! About the BECs, Msgr Lope C Robredillo, VG, says [“An Overview Of The Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs), From The Other Side Of History , msgrlope.blogspot.com ]: The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines devotes two paragraphs to describe the BECs… “They are small communities of Christians, usually of families who gather together around the Word of God and the Eucharist.” As Roman Catholic, an edit
Read more

“Creative Freedom” – UP, Time To Replace Your Symbol Of Academic Freedom!

Image
It occurred to me today, Sunday, 16 October 2022, that changing the symbol of the University of the Philippines System (UP) is long overdue – because the Oblation (smaller but sunnier image) has ever inspired disapproval , even radicalism, and never creativity ! This is a creative person writing, self-taught in communication and in digital media – yes, I am a UP alumnus, 1965. The bigger image is my photograph (taken 29 July 2016) of the fiberglass sculptural piece of Maria Pureza Escaño , which she titles “The Rose Of Marya: Service Through Excellence” ( Maria Pureza Escaño , weebly.com ). Commissioned by the Sigma Delta Sorority , “Marya” is now a landmark at the UP Los Baños Alumni Plaza. Ms Maria says of it: Recently, Maria Pureza Escaño was handpicked by the University of the Philippines for her concept and rendition of "The Rose of Marya: Service through Excellence," an allegorical seven-foot fiber glass sculpture celebrating100 years of excellence and service to
Read more

SOLVE As A Way Of Speech & Blogging As A Way Of Write

Image
Searca Tuesday, 28 April 2020, 10:00 AM, embarks on a Southeast Asian voyage of discovering and/or uncovering pieces & sets of knowledge on food security given the global coronavirus outbreak.  It is a webinar series to “ highlight concrete actions in agriculture and rural development in Southeast Asia.” The series to be launched is called “Searca Online Learning & Virtual Engagement,” acronym SOLVE, which is Searca’s “effort to break boundaries, both physical and conceptual, to strategically disseminate just-in-time solutions.” It is ambitious, but the times call for it. Searca Director Glenn B Gregorio says of it: The new normal brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has firmed up Searca’s resolve to embark on new modalities and use technology-mediated platforms of interactions to effectively deliver context-relevant and valuable services to its stakeholders, including farmers and the public. SOLVE is virtual but the learnings are real. Mr Gregorio said: SOLVE particularly hi
Read more