Frank And Healthy Minds

Rene E Ofreneo writes “Dar’s ‘Leveling Up’ Vision: Will It Work?” in the 20 February 2020 issue of Business Mirror , a total of 1,032 words including title [1] . And it’s not pleasant. I am The Wizard Of Os, yes? I can see Manong Rene: Sees the Obstacles Sees Not the Opportunities Sees Not the Options Sees Not the Outputs Sees Not the Outcomes! How did my favorite British wit Oscar Wilde put it again? Between the optimist and the pessimist The difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut, The pessimist the hole! With that column at the Business Mirror, it turns out Manong Willie is the Optimist and Manong Rene is the Pessimist! When William Dar/Manong Willie became PH Secretary of Agriculture, he came out with his “New Thinking for Agriculture” with “The Eight Paradigms” to give it flesh – all for “leveling up” PH agriculture. Manong Rene says: (William) Dar blames the terrible collapse of agriculture to the failure of the average Filipino small farmer “to access low cost finan...

Are we in the Digital Age or not? Towards the end of last month, Roi Anthoni Lomotan tells us that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie discussed the Department of Agriculture, DA’s program to attract the youth to engage themselves in the business of farming. Indeed, the DA has 3 programs for them: Agribusiness Incubation ; Kapital Access for Young Agripreneurs , KAYA; and the Agrinegosyo Loan Program – setting aside P 2.5 Billion meant to be cash grants. Now, the news Mr Lomotan reported happened last month yet, during a forum held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center on 28 January 2020 (PIA [1] ); his report is dated 11 February 2020, or 2 weeks late! In these digital times, I can only explain this news delay as lack of interest. Kaya; kaya lang, hindi kinaya. Has the ability, but sorry, did not bother. From his Facebook page, I learn that Mr Lomotan is a young man. The above tells me that the youth have not sensed by themselves the Opportunities in Agriculture and...

Is the world innovative enough such as the GII would like us to believe? There is a Technical Meeting and High-Level Conference – meaning, closed doors – on the Global Innovation Index, GII, going on at the Philippine International Convention Center, 18-19 February 2020 [1] . Heads of national agencies expected to participate are those of the Departments of Agriculture, Information & Communications Technology, Science & Technology, Trade & Industry, the Commission on Higher Education, CHEd, and National Economic & Development Authority, NEDA. Meanwhile, I am reading the Facebook sharing (above) of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie. Intriguing, yes. But first, about the GII and its relevance to the economy. Louella Desiderio says, “Philippines Jumps 19 Places In Global Innovation Index” ( Philippine Star [2] ). Ms Louella says the GII, which is co-published by Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organization, “measures the innovation p...

Beautiful! The above beautiful image is a beautiful source of lessons in climate change, which is an important consideration for the New PH Agriculture with Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie.  There are 4 things wrong with it: (1)    Too much water. (2)    Seedlings too old . (3)    Root systems of seedlings injuriously cut . (4)    Farmer will apply nitrogen fertilizer unnecessarily . Water When you transplant rice, a damp soil is enough, not flooded like that. You are wasting water. So what? You are contributing to climate change! Seedlings When you transplant seedlings that old , you have had standing water in your seedbed far longer than you should. Think of how many million farmers are doing this, and you will appreciate how this wrong seedbed practice affects the climate. And why are such rice seedlings too old to transplant? They are no longer young and therefore no longer have the youthful ability to withstand stress...

Right now, in my bedroom-writeroom, I have about 400 books big & little. I pick up a red book of 250 pages, Laugh Again by Charles R Swindoll, radio evangelist . I am Roman Catholic, but I read all kinds. My handwritten note says I first read it 09 September 2013, again 04 January 2020, and then 25 January 2020. Again today, 17 February 2020.  On page 11, in Introduction, Mr Swindoll writes: This is a book about joy. It’s about relaxing more, releasing the tension, and refusing to let circumstances dominate our attitudes. I myself need to be reminded to re-sound joy every single time, every time. (Image above is Windows 10’s own joyful creation) I want to give thanks to God for the presences and essences of significant others in my life, my children near and far – as near as home and as far as Toronto and New York. I want to give thanks to God for the presence and essence of my wife. For my presence and essence too. In my creative life, I have been experiencing joy since 1975 w...

From Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has come out an order: "Solve banana's 'Panama disease' and boost exports." His directive came out on Valentine’s Day; it is a command to the Department of Agriculture, DA, and a plea to others, he having noted that: Despite… the lingering “Panama disease” or Fusarium wilt, fresh banana remains as the country's major farm export. ¶ In fact, it earned for the country US$1.77 billion, from January to November 2019, making it the top farm export item, and US$1.38 billion in 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. Since Cavendish banana for export mostly comes from Mindanao, there must be hundreds of thousands of hectares of banana farms big and small in that island. In 2010, there were almost 500,000 hectares devoted to banana in the whole Philippines, according to the Food & Fertilizer Technology Center [1] . He also said: What more, if we could solve the decades-old Panama disease that ...

First, some perspective on the African Swine Fever, ASF, plaguing the backyard hog raising industry in the Philippines today. PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie spoke of it as guest speaker on the first day of the 2nd International Farmers Summit 2020 held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City 12-14 February 2020.  The summit actually featured the poultry and livestock industries. The leaders Manong Willie mentioned in his talk were, for the hog industry: Rosendo So, Chester Tan, Edwin Chen, Eugenio Mende; and for the poultry sector: Bong Inciong and Georgie San Diego. Manong Willie assumed office on 05 August 2019. Now, he told his audience what he had been asking himself (with a little editing): Bakit po, Diyos, nung nagsimula ako noong Agusto 5 ay ang daming bumagsak dito sa Pilipinas na problema sa sector ng agrikultura? Sana tulungan po ninyo itong bansang minamahal namin, para maka-move forward na rin kami at talagang ipu-push po namin ang pagyaman na ...