An Archipelago Of 7,641 Islands, Why Is PH Not Asia’s #1 In Fisheries?

PH is 7K+ islands separately surrounded by water – so why are Filipinos not surrounded by hundreds of fish millionaires?

“The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad” – AK BestMats Hagwall. That is to say, Filipino preachers are good in catching pagans but Filipino fishers are not that good in catching fish!

If overdue, to catch the Big Fish, Big Fund has been tapped. From the World Bank will come $200 Million (P10 Billion) to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to fund the Fisheries & Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe) Project to benefit 500,000 fishers and fish farmers in the next 7 years.

ANN says the DA’s Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will implement (Author Not Named, 27 October 2021, “DA Set To Pursue P10-B World Bank-Funded ‘Blue’ Resources Project[1],” DA.gov.ph):

(FishCoRe) aims to support the scaling-up and modernization of the Philippine capture fisheries and aquaculture (sectors), through the provision of technical support and innovation, access to modern and resilient fisheries infrastructure and (postharvest) facilities, and promotion of efficient connectivity and (product-value) addition, among other initiatives.

During the virtual wrap-up World Bank-DA meeting on 25 October 2021, Secretary of Agriculture William Dar said:

We extend our appreciation to the World Bank for prioritizing the FishCoRe Project, as this has been seen as the (DA’s) medium- to long-term intervention to increase resiliency due to climate change and as a bounce-back strategy for the country’s “blue economy” amid the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe that this endeavor would help us propel faster towards attaining the (DA’s) vision of a food-secure and resilient Philippines with empowered and prosperous farmers and fisherfolk.

Having read the news over the years, I can see that by-and-large fish catchers and fish culturers need to become more efficient. Thus, they need much technical support and services, infrastructure and postharvest & value-adding facilities, and efficient connectivities to markets here and abroad.

The key growth targets of FishCoRe are: 5% reduction in postharvest losses, 3% addition to household income, 3% increase in value-added fishery commodities, and 1-5% reduction in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing incidences.

Mr Dar said FishCoRe will be implemented in designated Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs), initially FMAs 6 and 9 covering 11 regions and 24 provinces, and totaling 32 million hectares of coastal and marine waters. Under FMA 6, the waters are off the West Philippine Sea including Pagudpud Bay, Subic Bay, Manila Bay to Lubang Island. Under FMA 9, the waters are in the in Bohol Sea, Panguil Bay, Iligan Bay, Gingoog Bay, Butuan Bay, and Sogod Bay.

BFAR has divided the archipelago into 12 FMAs; in each FMA is “where it would implement area-specific policies and initiatives to sustainably manage fishery resources through a science-based and participatory governance framework.”

FishCoRe is expected to commence early 2022. Overall, this is in line with the DA’s mantra: “Masaganang Ani, Mataas Na Kita” (Bountiful Grains, Bounteous Gains, my new translation). Let’s hope the Blue Economy will multiply the fish captured and cultured – and lead to sustainable lives of millions more Filipinos!@517

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[1]https://www.da.gov.ph/da-set-to-pursue-p10-b-world-bank-funded-blue-resources-project/?fbclid=IwAR2pqQ5LLPdc4SWBj5ek6YK2yYhJsOiHFLL2MXzFmqAdzjOeYvgNx-sWNII

Isko Moreno Shows The Ways For The New Filipino – Including Agriculture & Digital!

It looks like Isko Moreno is thinking more of millions more people than the other presidential candidates – I say that that is a good sign of a leader.

Above, now we have “ISKONOMICS101 – Buhay at Kalusugan” (Life & Health) with the 5 groups of items – here, I am presenting only my free translations:

50% Tax Cut On Oil, Electricity – Government will sacrifice and reduce by 50% taxes for crude oil and electricity as assistance to businesses and ordinary Filipinos.

Vaccine For Everyone – Widen the national vaccination program, gather medicines against Covid-19, build new hospitals, and pursue a strategy against Covid-19 supported by science.

Innovative & Modern Schools – Build new schools and invest in skills development of Filipino youth to strengthen the educational sector, including the national labor force.

Mega Infrastructure – Build new bridges to connect the country’s economic hubs.

Progressive Culture In Modern Times – Build new infrastructures in the fields of agriculture and tourism, including digital infrastructure.

Now, as an agriculturist (BSA major in Ag Edu, UP '65, with 2.36 weighted average that was computed including a few Failed’s), a retired teacher, self-taught digital writer & editor & desktop publisher, and an indefatigable & independent blogger since 2000 and today a senior 81, I will concentrate on Agriculture and Digital Infrastructure. (Thank you, Isko Moreno for your digital attention!)

Farmers

We have 10 million farmers, and most of them are poor and lead unsustainable lives, victims of lack of business sense, so we have to help entrepreneurial-wise. We cannot solve farmer poverty overnight, no matter how good the Secretary of Agriculture is. Nobody can eat if there are no farmers among us – that’s how important farmers are.

Digital Infrastructure

Our farmers must follow Regenerative Agriculture to avoid contributing greenhouse gases adding to global warming. They follow uneconomic ways of cultivation; therefore, digital inspiration, information & instruction will help any number of them tremendously at any time. Currently, radio training is being followed, which is ancient – digital is of the essence and of the moment! Like, I have been proposing the creation of a Knowledge Bank starting 10 years ago (see my essay, 25 July 2011, “Mind, Knowledge Maps. Rice Farming For Dummies[1],” A Magazine Called Love, Blogger.com). A digital library as a source of all kinds of guidance of even a million googlers asking questions all at the same time should be perfect!

Isko Moreno is the only presidential candidate who has paid attention to farming and expressed appreciation of the Information Superhighway. His team of advisers is awake and aware. Excellent!

Except that Iskonomics101 has 2 different entries in the same Facebook post: “Buhay at Kalusugan” (Life & Health) and “Buhay at Kabuhayan” (Life & Livelihood). That has to be resolved. If you ask me, “Buhay” already includes “Kalusugan,” so the single choice should be “Buhay at Kabuhayan.”

Now, if Iskoconomics101 can capture all those contents & intents in A Single Captivating Vision for the Philippines, Isko Moreno is the best candidate of all!@517

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[1]https://amagazinecalledlove.blogspot.com/2011/07/mind-knowledge-maps-rice-farming-for.html?view=classic

Dioscoro L Umali – The Father Of UP Los Baños Whom UPLB Forgot!

UP Los Baños is not holding any special event to honor Dioscoro L Umali today, Wednesday, 17 Nov (1917), his birthday. This alumnus knows that he contributed many and much more to the sciences & successes, roles & reputations of UPLB than any other individual or even group. Now I say that this neglect of giving unique honor to a uniquely honorable man is uniquely unscholarly and unkind.

I have just seen the Facebook post of the blog Archimedesheatray.blogspot.com that shares the blogpost titled “Group 5: Dioscoro Umali[1]” – and I say, “Wow!” Having been in and out of Los Baños since 1959 as Freshman for my BSA ’65, let me add that he was respectfully referred to as “Dean Umali” even when he became UP Vice President for UP Los Baños as well as founding Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca).

The blogpost is authored by 9 individuals, count them! Louise Sigrid Antonio, Jiorjohn Aurius Co, Simone Dimalibot, Jonathan De Guzman, Cara Isabela Ignacio, Therese Nicole Jueves, Julius Ceazar Ladublan, Jeanne Myrtia Macalalad, Anna Beatrice Mariñas, and Jonathan Trinidad. The authors’ list is alphabetical, hinting to me that the write-up was essentially add-on – nonetheless, those 3,103 words of theirs combined gives much honor to whom much honor is due!

Dean Umali was a product of UP Los Baños – UP Los Baños was a product of Dean Umali!

Those authors say:

This paper aims to describe the life of a Filipino scientist… who not only contributed a series of scientific discoveries locally, but expanded the universal language of science (in) an international scale. We strive to give him the respect and attention he deserves for his various discoveries, improvements, and establishments in the various fields of science.

He followed Leopoldo B Uichanco as UPCA Dean. “His time as Dean was referred to as The Umali Years (1959-1969)… known as the most prosperous years, ‘a period of expansion, innovation and long-range development planning.’”

Here is a partial list of whom Dean Umali became:
Architect of the autonomous UPLB
Father of Philippine Plant Breeding
Founder & 1^st President, Association of Colleges of Agriculture in the Philippines
Chair, Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
Chair, National Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Committee,
Father & Chair, Los Baños Rural Bank
Chair, Asian Non-Governmental Organization Coalition for Agrarian Reform & Rural Development.
Member, Governing Board, International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Member, Governing Board, International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Here are some of the awards he received:
1965: Outstanding Services in Food Production and Rural Reconstruction Movement, FAO Rome
1969: Distinguished Educator & Scholar Meritissimus, 1^st International Congress of Doctorates, Manila
1977: Pantas Award “for his contribution to the advancement of agricultural research in the country” from the Philippine Council for Agriculture & Resources Research
1990: Likas Yaman Award, Department of Environment and Natural Resources
1992: Outstanding Filipino Award, Philippine Jaycees Senate.

Asia’s Outstanding Leader cum Scientist In Agriculture – that was Dioscoro Lopez Umali!@517

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[1]http://archimedesheatray.blogspot.com/2014/05/group-5-dioscoro-umali.html

Aklan IBoN MPC – Giving Millions Credit To Whom Credit Is Due! The 3 Cs Of PH Agriculture

In 2003, they started with a few member-farmers, small capital and big hopes – the Pusiw Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Numancia, Aklan. Total membership 23, capital P4,800. Today, the coop has up to P60 million credit line available! I see it as a village victory via 3 Cs: Clustered Farming, Cooperativism & Credit.

I am reading Sheila Mae H Toreno’s 1,700-word article titled ““Success Story Of Integrated Barangays Of Numancia Multi-Purpose Cooperative” (26 October 2021, Department of Agriculture – Western Visayas), shared on Facebook by Noel Ocampo Reyes, ASec of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Learning from Ms Sheila Mae's report, I see what I now call “The 3 Cs of PH Agriculture” as The 3-in-1 Formula for bringing about sustained progress via shared efforts in Philippine villages.

This is a reflection of the visionary leadership of Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, contained in “The ‘New Thinking’ For Agriculture[1]” he came out with 2 months before he was appointed by PRRD as Chief of DA, shared in his Manila Times column of 13 June 2019.

On New Year’s Day, I wrote “Whispering Hope Clustering – Interventions And Assistances Provided By PH DA[2]” (01 Jan 2021, Communication for Development, Blogspot.com). I can happily glean from Ms Sheila Mae’s report, former Land Bank of the Philippines’ cooperative organizer Arnulfo “Pong” Magcope whispering hope to the farmers in barangay Pusiw in Numancia, Aklan “that would shift the mindsets and alleviate the plights of farmers who have long been enduring the economic setbacks in the sector.”

Much inspired, the village coop thrived. It started as a small group with a small capital and registered with the Cooperative Development Authority on 13 March 2003, composed of farm laborers, fishers, house helpers, tricycle drivers, and vendors. On 29 October 2009, it registered under a new name: Integrated Barangays of Numancia Multi-Purpose Cooperative (IBoN MPC), now a highly diversified cooperative, with trading services for farm inputs and products, marketing support to rice growers, and expanding services and operations to other towns of Aklan.

Ms Sheila Mae says:

(Initially), their membership expanded following the success of an equity loan program offered to qualified constituents. (Then) they opened their members' savings operation for both regular and time deposits, leading to a better financial sphere and fostering members' willingness to help fellows in need. To assist more members, the cooperative decided to access financing from (LandBank), and in 2006, the government bank granted them a revolving credit line of P1 Million.

In 2017, IBoN MPC received a grant package from the DA that included a P125-million Rice Processing Center, 550-sqm warehouse, multi-pass rice mill, 26-ton recirculating dryer, and P2-million trading capital to serve over 100-hectares of rice lands in Numancia.

(Today), backed with exemplary records in handling financing and projects, IBoN MPC has up to P60 million credit line available and is a trusted lending conduit of several government financing institutions in Western Visayas.

Bigtime! The small farmers must learn to help themselves, even as the DA helps them.@517

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[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/06/13/business/agribusiness/the-new-thinking-for-agriculture/568614

[2]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2021/01/whispering-hope-clustering.html

PH Internet Is Fastest-Growing In SEA – And Aggie Extension Still Relies On Radio!?

The November news is that the PH Internet business is now #1 in growth in all of Southeast Asia (SEA), but I hardly see a sign of it in agricultural extension! The Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) is 30 years old; digital extension should Now be the mode and mood, but No. We’re still relying mostly on Radio as extension tool for agriculture?!
(inset radio image[1] from FarmRadio.fm)

Revin Mikhael D Ochave says, “PHL Is The Fastest-Growing Internet Economy In Southeast Asia – Report[2]” (11 Nov 2021, BusinessWorld), “fueled by e-commerce and food delivery services,” according to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co. The e-Conomy Southeast Asia Report says, “Overall, the Philippines was the fastest-growing market in the region, driven by strict lockdowns as well as a tipping point on the adoption of certain digital services.”

When are we going to adopt & deliver digital knowledge services?!

Are the ATI people afraid that the digital tools are difficult to master? They must be encouraged. I learned on my own how to become all-digital 21 years ago – doing the writing, editing, image manipulating, desktop publishing magazines and books. And uploading, blogging. For the last 2 years, I have been blogging everyday, and I love it! And yes, I’m 81 years old.

Since ATI is under the Department of Agriculture (DA), which is headed by Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, and since it was Mr Dar himself 20 years ago who proposed the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture (OpAPA):

I believe it is the duty of the ATI to revive & build that data & information bank on PH Agriculture so that any number, kind & complexity of training can be concocted and conducted, readily online. We should now all be travelling the Information Superhighway, for God’s sake!

Aside from helping formally train thousands of people online, OpAPA would give untold numbers of individuals the chance to discover for themselves the who, what, where, when, why and how-to for something or other in the growing of any crop or livestock, or any combination thereof – OpAPA should be as complex and complete as to accommodate all desires & designs for knowledge!

“The Philippines also added 12 million new digital consumers since the pandemic started in March 2020. Of this, 63% are from non-metro areas. Majority also said they plan to continue using these services even after the pandemic.”

Absorb that data! This is the time to take advantage of such digital awareness and cultivate it, by offering mind-enriching bytes of agriculture of any complexity – the would-be learner decides for oneself.

I just saw on Facebook that Agriculture Undersecretary for Administration & Finance Roldan G Gorgonio, who is also the chairperson for Ease of Doing Business, Transparent Procurement, and Digital Agriculture Upscaling, on Friday, 12 Nov 2021 “unveiled the first-ever Digital Agriculture Command Center” of the DA during the closing of the “Seminar Workshop On Automated Government Service Management System For The Regulatory Agencies Of The DA.”

So, what is the ATI waiting for?!@517

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[1]https://farmradio.fm/

[2]https://www.bworldonline.com/phl-is-the-fastest-growing-internet-economy-in-southeast-asia-report/?fbclid=IwAR32al5QzX5zzxPMaO9wAeC40NOgiYVBrWan5fyUz9QRC3KbySptI8kjbiQ

What Does Agriculture & Apolinario Mabini Have To Do With PH Presidential Candidates?

Surprise: Before choosing your presidential candidate, historian Ambeth R Ocampo says listen first to Apolinario Mabini’s advice!
(inset image[1] of Mabini as a law student from Abogado.com)

You may have already chosen your presidential candidate to vote for this coming May 2022, and your choice has been largely influenced by somebody (or nobody), by pronouncements or denouncements, in media, especially Facebook.

I, agriculturist & communicator for development, thinking of 5 million poor farmers, if the candidate hardly mentions agriculture in public, or says nothing about it, how can I vote for that one?

Differently, historian Ambeth R Ocampo quotes advice from a PH intellectual in history. He says (10 Nov 2021, “Qualifications For Public Office,” Inquirer.net):

As the circus leading to the 2022 elections has begun, we should take a hard look at the roster of presidential candidates and weigh each on a balance set by Apolinario Mabini in 1898.

I agree with “a hard look” and “weigh each on a balance.”

The President is the personification of the people and consequently his person is sacred and inviolate, and no liability can be required of him while he is in office.

I love that: “The President is the personification of the people.” Therefore, the best presidential candidate must be the “best” one there is among those running for the presidency.

The President is nothing else than the brother and the friend of all the Filipinos, and therefore he may be considered as the eldest whilst he is the first in honesty and civic virtues.

Being brother (or sister) and friend and honest and #1 in civic virtues are all welcome qualifications for a would-be President of my country, but I am looking beyond qualifications: I am looking for a Visionary!

Mr Ocampo mentions nothing about Mabini’s list requiring a far-sighted leadership of a President. So I keep looking far and wide.

Pia Ranada says Isko Moreno says (22 September 2021, “Isko Moreno Pitches 'Inclusive, Open' Governance In Campaign Launch[2],” Rappler.com):

I will be a healing President. While ours will be a government of national reconstruction, it will also be a government of national reconciliation, based on justice and rule of law.

Andreo Calonzo says Leni Robredo says (07 October 2021, “Philippine Opposition Leader Eyes Presidency, Slams Duterte,” Bloomberg.com):

This lack of organized leadership is the root of many of our problems. This has to end. Corruption, incompetence, the lack of concern need to be replaced with good and capable leadership.

ANN says BBM says (Author Not Named, 06 Oct 2021, “With Dream Of Providing ‘Unifying Leadership,’ Bongbong Marcos Files CoC For President,” BusinessMirror.com.ph) – this is my translation from his Tagalog:

My desire is to restore a unifying kind of service to the country. Let us bond together and rise from the beatings of the pandemic, ascend from a debilitated economy.

They talk about leadership, but none of the 3 frontrunners has what I am looking for in my President: Vision. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no Vision, the people perish.”@517

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[1]https://abogado.com.ph/legend-that-came-to-be-pup-law-looks-back-to-mabini-as-a-law-student/

[2]https://www.rappler.com/nation/isko-moreno-pitches-inclusive-open-governance-campaign-launch

I Alumnus Challenge UPLB To Lead SCUs In Teaching Regenerative Agriculture!

I now believe that not only is Regenerative Agriculture (RA) good for Farmers and Consumers of Food From Farms, but also Our Earth Combatting Climate Change. So, I am urging my alma mater, UP Los Baños, to lead all those State Colleges & Universities (SCUs) in training on RA. Via Multiple Intelligences (MI). And enjoy while learning!
(“Garden Family” image[1] from Megafood.com, posterized by me)

Now, that’s a double mouthful, and mindful: RA and MI. In the Philippines, you learn neither in school. Exactly! That’s why I’m proposing that the SCUs teach them, because I know if they wanted to teach well, they would have to learn and enjoy while learning RA and MI.

Multiple Intelligences

In 1983, Harvard psychology professor Howard Gardner outed his ground-breaking and mind-boggling educational theory multiple intelligences via his book Frames Of Mind published by Basic Books (New York). The educational world has never been the same again!

Here are the 9 intelligences, from Adioma[2]:

Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)
Existential (life smart)
Interpersonal (people smart)
Intra-personal (self smart)
Linguistic (word smart)
Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)
Musical (sound smart)
Naturalist (nature smart)
Spatial (picture smart).

In 1987, would-be Secretary of Economic Planning Cielito F Habito and his wife Pilar Relova set up the Cahbriba Alternative School Foundation at Los Baños, Laguna to offer MI to high school youths. Cahbriba did it by offering so-called Learning Centers within regular HS subjects. That crucial piece of information has just been provided me by my daughter Neenah Bonafe, who studied at Cahbriba, together with brother Edwin Dante and sister Graciela Antonia; Neenah graduated from there.

There is more. ANN says (“The Habitos Wage A Silent Revolution In Laguna[3]” Author Not Named, 12 Nov 2001, PhilStar.com):

(Neenah) Hilario, a senior, says she learns more from being exposed to the realities in a community than from being confined to a classroom. "Here, you learn more from asking and talking to people." (They went out to communities, took even a whole-day field trip.)

In the traditional school where I came from, teachers focus on getting the correct answers from their students. Here at Cahbriba, there are no right or wrong answers. What teachers want to hear are our opinions – and we have a lot," freshman Katrina Distor said.

With MI, you enjoy as you learn more!

Regenerative Agriculture

To revolutionize PH teaching, the SCUs must employ MI methods within their subjects, such as Learning Centers as Neenah pointed out.

Following my essay yesterday, Friday, 12 Nov 2021, “RedRag – Redemptive Education for Regenerative Agriculture, Thinking 2021 Digital Magazine[4]” (Communication for Development, Blogspot.com), I’m thinking of high schools all over the country adopting MI curricula, whether agricultural or not. We will probably need the consultative services of Ms Pilar of Cahbriba who can talk about her actual experiences and possible experimentations.

Thus, we will encourage all those highschoolers to explore the wide & wonderful world of Regenerative Agriculture using the bright and beautiful mode of learning called Multiple Intelligences. Learning has never been more exciting!@517

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[1]https://www.megafood.com/blog/what-is-regenerative-agriculture.html

[2]https://blog.adioma.com/9-types-of-intelligence-infographic/

[3]https://www.philstar.com/business/business-as-usual/2001/11/12/139850/habitos-wage-silent-revolution-laguna

[4]https://communicationfordevelopmentphcomdev.blogspot.com/2021/11/redrag-redemptive-education-for.html