William Dar & The New Optimism For Philippine Agriculture

My favorite wit Oscar Wilde says:

Between the optimist and the pessimist
The difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut;
The pessimist sees the hole!

2 Perspectives. One, "Sunset is the end of a sad day." Two, "Sunset is the beginning of a new bright tomorrow."

I am an optimist. I enjoy looking at a sunset, even while I am eagerly awaiting the new day! God willing.

Today, Manila Timescolumnist William Dar says, "There Is Hope For Philippine Agriculture" (08 August 2019, manilatimes.net). Now he is standing at the top of the tower called the Department of Agriculture, DA; today, he is the 4-day old Secretary of Agriculture, and there are plenty of days of hope to share with everyone.

Again, from Oscar Wilde:

"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result."

Mr Dar is Mr Science to me. And I know he will manage the DA to set the conditions right, to get the positive results we await!

How come I know that when Mr Dar has been Secretary of Agriculture for only 100 hours? Ah, I have known him for almost 12 years, since early 2007, when he appointed me an international consulting writer for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT. I did not know him from Adam then, but when former PhilRice Executive Director SRO asked me, "Isuratmo man met ni Willie Dar" (Please write about Willie Dar), I did – and he said thank you by enlisting me as ICRISAT writer based 4,500 km away. That's what I call long-distance optimism!

That hopeful engagement lasted until the end of December 2014, when he retired after a long 15-year Director Generalship, being DG from 2000 to 2014. That is how I know that this Team Captain brought ICRISAT from a long-drawn sunset into a bright new day, from dead last to #1 international center among the 15 international centers of the CGIAR group, which included/includes IRRI, which is based in the Philippines. From losing, he brought ICRISAT up to winning, in fact the winningest.

You cannot stop a man with the Mission of "Science with a human face."

In fact, "Science with a human face" was the Vision/Slogan of ICRISAT when Mr Dar was DG; even without declaring it, I know that is his Mission for his beloved Philippines. Take note that he founded and is President of the InangLupa Movement(logo superimposed on the image above, with his wife Betty) – InangLupa means Motherland. Instead of saying, "Goodbye, PH Agriculture!" Mr Dar is saying, "Good vibes, PH Agriculture!"

It's the positive attitude. Mr Dar is looking at the doughnut.

He says, "And now is time for all of us to take collective action for the country's agriculture sector!" He repeats that call with these words:

"What we need right now is optimism and hope that we could do something, through collective action, to level up the country's agriculture sector." To that, I say:

The future is ours to harvest – the present is ours to cultivate!@517