Rene Ofreneo, Rene Pamintuan & Ted Mendoza: Gentlemen 3 In Paradigms Lost!

I have decided, after my birthday last Tuesday, to distribute my ebook Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained free to anyone who asks, frankahilario@gmail.com, indefinitely, because now, I see with all those paradigms – symbol in the lower half of the image above – indeed, I am having the time of my life!

Yes, it was new Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie who started it all with his "The Eight Paradigms" that are embedded in his "The New Thinking for Agriculture" – you can read all the details in my book (title in upper half of the image above).

In my symbol of Paradigms above, there are actually 5 Windows in there; 4 of those Windows are quite easy to see – if you don't see the 5th Window, I can see that you are lost in Paradigms!

That is how I will describe where now I see those Gentlemen 3; their job now is to get themselves into Paradigms Regained!

I am joking – and then again, I am not.

Rene Ofreneo's long essay, 1366 words including title, "Mounting Problems In A Shrinking Agri Sector," provides a list of the crises in the coconut industry, sugar industry, other aggie crops from Cordillera to Cotabato (by Mr Ofreneo); about the "sins" of government in agriculture (by Ted Mendoza); about the lack of "an integrated human resource development program for the farming population" (by Rene Pamintuan).

Now then, it is normal for people like those Gentlemen 3 to look at the details: 10 million aggie labor force that are the poorest in society; low prices of coconut; adverse impact of sugar import liberalization; missing government support; weak rural infrastructures and lack of processing facilities; declining fish catches; insufficient investment in irrigation and rural infrastructures; neglecting the task of producing productive farmers…etcetera.

Oh yes! Those are all points well-taken, well-defined by the normal lens of the gentlemen's cameras. What they lack is the wide-angle lens perspective, what Manong Willie calls "Paradigms." Not one mentions this view.

"Paradigms" is the wide-angle view of the new PH Agriculture under a new manager, who has managerial local, national as well as international eyes. having been PH Secretary of Agriculture under Erap, a 3-term Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, who team-captained ICRISAT to #1 among the 15 centers of the CGIAR group, from dead last – the 15 including the distinguished IRRI based in this country.

Even before he became Secretary, Manong Willie already came out with what he calls "The Eight Paradigms" that are embedded in "The New Thinking for Agriculture" of his. Those Gentlemen 3 can examine the paradigms at leisure if they email me for a free copy of my ebook.

Manong Willie's view is holistic!
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

I am sure those gentlemen mentioned above know about w/holism, but right now, each is the pessimist in Oscar Wilde's witticism:

"The optimist sees the doughnut /
The pessimist sees the hole!"
The 2nd sees Paradigms Lost;
the 1st Paradigms Regained!@517