Above, that bagsakan, drop-off center for farm produce, is in Villasis along the national highway and at the end-point of the Asingan-Villasis road (image from amaialand.com). I selected it because I am a native of Asingan, son of Lakay Disiong, a rice and vegetable farmer who did not enjoy the benefits of a bagsakan. My mother Baket Satur and others would travel with their large woven bamboo baskets (tiklis) full of eggplants and/or tomatoes to Divisoria to sell, riding hours & hours uncomfortablyon top of those baskets carried by a truck. I see bagsakans are Heaven-sent!
Most accurately, the new head of the Department of Agriculture, DA, William Dar/Manong Willie translates "bagsakans" as "wholesale drop-off points" (19 September 2019, "Attracting more young blood into agriculture." Manila Times, manilatimes.net). Note, wholesale, which guarantees that you can buy cheaper at the bagsakan than elsewhere. The bagsakan, says he, for the farmers has "expanded their markets beyond the usual middle man." Yes Sir, the bagsakan serves both the farmers and the consumers at the expense of the merchants – the farmer receives an advantageous amount for his produce and the consumer buys at an affordable price. Heaven-sent!
The news is that "DA, FTI, DILG Sign MOU To Institutionalize Direct Market Linkages For Farmers" (Susan G De Leon, 16 September 2019, PIA, pia.gov.ph). FTI is the Food Terminal Inc; DILG is the Department of Interior & Local Government; MOU is Memorandum of Understanding. The signing was on 13 September in Taguig City. The MOU is actually for the establishment of "Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita." Kadiwa is the brainchild of President Ferdinand Marcos; ka+diwa, shared spirit. From the new DA slogan, "Masaganang Ani, Malaking Kita" as offspring, "Ani" and "Kita" have been personalized by Manong Willie. So, "Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita" is a reference to smart consumers ("Kadiwa") and prosperous farmers ("Ani at Kita") in a single government initiative. Clever!
Kadiwa/Bagsakan provides direct and increased market linkages – for producers (farmers and fishers) as well as consumers (any Ani or Kita who wants to buy farm or fish produce at reasonably low prices.) Yes, you must consider that the bagsakan actually pays much higher than the merchant who always wants to make a killing at the expense of food producers and consumers!
(The bagsakan is part of the modernization of agriculture that Manong Willie has in mind; it is part of the #1 Paradigm ("Modernization of Agriculture") of The Eight Paradigms embodied in his "New Thinking for Agriculture" as his roadbook (my term) to the new PH Agriculture under him as new Secretary of Agriculture. The lower half of the composite image above is the cover of my ebook, in Paradigms Lost, in Paradigms Regained, 269 pages, my literary-literal explanation and exposition of those paradigms. Email me for a free copy: frankahilario@gmail.com.)
Manong Willie said, "Through Kadiwa – now anchored to 'Ani at Kita' – we can be sure that farmers get the best prices for their goods, while providing affordable, safe, and nutritious food to the consumers."
Me? Kadiwa ako. I share all that spirit!@517
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