Healthy Farms for Healthy Foods

As may be seen in the praxis of Maria Ressa , Filipino winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2021, the preference is journalism in unearthing a politician’s personal bad, instead of the social good. This is Journalism That Does Not THINK – it stops at the Truth and does not proceed further: True to Helpful to Inspiring to Necessary to Kind. THiNK about that! If singlehandedly, what I’m trying to do is elevate the art & heart of journalism in my beloved country, the Philippines. And, in effect, the whole world! I strive so that my writing may be described by any combination of the following practices, which become my 13 pieces of journalistic advice to you. 1.       From adversary to advisory – When I disagree with something, I have learned to tailor my writing so that I am not a contrarian but an adviser, without using the word “advise” – I present my idea, take it or leave it. 2.       From circular to crucial – You may have many thin...

Why cannot Bongbong refuse to attend the debate being called for by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) this Saturday, 19 March 2022? Intelligently, I say he can, if he wants to. Better, let us learn from the US where, on 04 Nov 1956 happened “The First Televised Presidential Debate” ( United States Senate , senate.gov ): Eleanor Roosevelt debating for the Democrats, and Margaret Chase Smith for the Republicans! So, why not PH Presidentiables represented by their chosen women? (5 ladies image from southerntierincubator.com ) More. The news by ANN is, “Marcos Jr Won’t Attend Comelec Presidential Debate” (Author Not Named, 14 Mar 2022, ABS-CBN News, news.abs-cbn.com ). I say Bongbong has the absolute right to refuse to attend any debate. Being a good President of a country is not to be measured by one’s prowess in debating with others. Ladies & gentlemen, let’s show more intelligence – if you emphasize debates, you are looking for leadership that is more critical in thinking an...

The ingeniousness of the youth is what is being sought for by Nestlé PH from students of Agribusiness Management & Entrepreneurship of UP Los Baños in inventing solutions to eliminate greenhouse gases (GHGs) to resolve climate change. Net Zero GHGs is everybody’s business. I saw it today, Monday, 14 Mar 2022, on Facebook, the short video presentation that says, right at the start: Tackling Climate Change Can’t Wait. And neither can we. Our global ambition is to reach Net Zero by 2050. We are a force FOR GOOD in the Philippines. (climate eye image from frontiersin.org ) Finally, my alma mater UPLB is paying attention to climate change! Our global ambition is to reach Net Zero by 2050. Accelerating our efforts to mitigate climate change. Plant MILLIONS OF TREES every year. We are innovating and developing technologies TO MAKE OUR PACKAGING recyclable and reusable by 2025. We are educating consumers and promoting the right behavior towards SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT. For our childre...

Now is the time for some good women to come to the aid of their families and engage in a business that lays short of golden eggs. I am talking of 15 women members of the Suchan Chicken Raisers’ Association (SCRA) who last year raised P 21,150 in 2 months! Jennifer Valcobero says, “Php 21K Initial Income Of 15 Poultry Raisers In Catanduanes Reported” (28 Feb 2022, Special Area for Agricultural Development, saad.da.gov.ph ). The SCRA women are from barangay Suchan in Bagamanoc, Catanduanes. In July 2021, they had received from the Special Area for Agricultural Development (SAAD) Program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) P 656,000 worth of poultry inputs that included 400 chickens ( Kabir ), 80 bags of grower feeds, 120 bags of layer feeds, feeders, drinkers/waterers, and a freezer. (The Kabir chicken is a breed by Kabir International, sold by Cobb-Vantress – putakputak.com .) The SCRA poultry area was/is 400 sqm. 2-3 members were on duty for maintenance, stock feeding, and collec...

We humans always have a choice – today, to use either the power of weapon or the power of reason to solve problems or resolve conflicts. We have a choice of conquering other peoples by force or combatting our country’s predicaments by science and sense of the socially upright. With a war on in unfortunate Ukraine, FAO countries held the “36th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific” in Dhaka, Bangladesh 8-11 March 2022. "War is Hell," American Civil War General William Sherman said in 1879 – certainly if you wage war only by private demands, not public dictates. On 10 March 2022, PH Secretary of Agriculture William Dar spoke during the Ministerial Session, emphasizing: “Our immediate objective is to modernize our agriculture and fisheries systems, making them more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.” Mr Dar noted FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031 with the themes of Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment . He said: For Better Pro...

I am inspired today, Friday, 11 March 2022, to imagine a New Garden of Eden in which our new ancestors, the New Adam and Eve, begin to gift us what God Almighty has gifted them: Glorious Eden, which is Heaven on Earth! “Garden of Eden” image from artmajeur.com ) [An Ilocano, I have always been an original aboriginal; thus, I concocted Communication for Development (ComDev) in 1980, a counterpoint to Development Communication (DevCom) of UP Los Baños.] Yes, I begin to preach today, for us descendants of Adam & Eve to regenerate on Earth the glories of the Garden of Eden by waking up life in the soil in our hands! How? We hold & mold the soil to give literally more life to the millions of lives inside and outside of it: bacteria, fungi, bugs, worms, snails etcetera. The grand result? Soil giving health to crops, animals and human bodies ! I am not new to this. I was the first Filipino to write about what American gentleman farmer Edward H Faulkner had discovered: Trash ...

Today, Thursday, 10 March 2022, I am writing about organic farming as preached on Facebook by the Department of Agriculture (DA) Region Field Office 3 (RFO 3); RFO 3 covers the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. RFO 3 says Region 3 has the vision as the “Organic Agriculture Capital of the Philippines.” That to me is an excellent self-challenge by RFO 3. I say that personally, as a believer in organic farming in the past 57 years starting in 1965 or thereabouts when I discovered “trash farming” in the books by American farmer Edward H Faulkner , published by the University of Oklahoma Press: Plowman’s Folly (1943) and Soil Development (1952). The RFO 3 website says ( rfo3.da.gov.ph ): Region 03 (had) already organic agriculture advocates long before the enactment of the law. The MASIPAG (Magsasaka at Siyentipiko Para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura) NGO in Nueva Ecija has been working towards the sustainable use and management of biodiversity through farmers’ contro...