At The 48th Gawad Saka, Secretary William Dar Lectured The PH Farmer Leaders – And They Didn't Realize It!

Yes, the occasion on Tuesday, 22 October 2019, was for the holding of the awarding ceremonies for "Gawad Saka" – Aggie Awards, my translation – for farmers and fishers who have shown outstanding performances in their fields. The one above shows a P200K check for award-winning fisher Vicente B Lugagay of Santiago City.

The lecture? Not scheduled but necessary! Because the farmer leaders of all kinds have kept complaining of the rice crisis and what have been happening to the farmers – as if the Department of Agriculture, DA, under new Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie, has done nothing and continue to do nothing about the unwelcome situation. These farmer leaders can see a problem for every solution!

I have been following up the happenings in and out of the DA, and so I know all about what Manong Willie calls the New Thinking for Agriculture. And those farmer leaders either don't know, or don't care.

So, what did Manong Willie do during the 48th Gawad Saka? He lectured them on what the new DA is doing! He said:

Today, as we honor the men and women who tirelessly struggle to grow, raise and nurture the food that we need, we at the Department of Agriculture therefore find it necessary to renew our commitment to championing their causes and advancing their welfare, even as we vigorously pursue the revival of the farm and fishery sector, which had erratically grown in the past five years.

While the Gawad Saka winners had performed extraordinarily in their fields, PH Agriculture "had erratically grown in the past five years." Of course, we could do much better than that. Manong Willie told his Gawad Saka audience, which included the farmer leaders:

Target: Grow agriculture at 2% by 2020, 2.5% by 2021, and 4% by 2022.

Masaganang Ani at Mataas na Kita –high harvests and high incomes – these are the Twin Targets of the New DA from Day 1 (Monday, 05 August 2019). And these can be achieved, Manong Willie was saying, if we follow the new thinking for agriculture and implement an overall strategy that comprises the following 8 paradigms – patterns or models – from which initiatives can be drawn for the betterment of PH Agriculture:

(1) Modernization of agriculture;
(2) Industrialization of agriculture;
(3) Promotion of exports;
(4) Farm consolidation;
(5) Infrastructure development;
(6) Roadmap development;
(7) Higher budget and investments for agriculture; and
(8) Legislative support.

Can we choose which single paradigm to pursue vigorously? Yes, Manong Willie would tell you, but the other 7 must be pursued nevertheless – the 8 make up one indivisible national development program.

So, farmer leaders, stop complaining about what is happening in PH Agriculture and start fulfilling your role in actively helping advance any or all of the 8 paradigms – you will be glad you did!

Act as true leaders of your farmer groups and truly care for their prosperity and happiness – not simply experts in bellyaching as you have been showing publicly and in media all these years!@517