In his Manila Times column of today, Thursday, 05 December 2019, "The First 100 Days And Beyond" 2nd of 2 parts[1], Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie says in the first 2 paragraphs:
Before I set forth the steps to move forward from my first 100 days as your servant-leader for agriculture, let me enumerate the other gains we made that were not mentioned in the first part of this installment.
When I say "we," I literally mean we, since collective action is what the Department of Agriculture (DA) has been initiating from my first day as Agriculture Secretary. And that means (all those who) are taking part in that collective action.
"Collective action." So, who are We? Everyone from the DA to national government agencies to local government units to the private sector to state colleges & universities, to civil society to the farmers themselves. "Gains we made" in agriculture. If you do not know of any gains we have made since Monday, 05 August 2019, when Manong Willie became Secretary of Agriculture, then you have been paying attention only to yourself or group.
So, when you point a finger at who is to blame now, you are actually pointing at yourself! (What have you done yourself as a necessary member of the We?)
So, we win as one! Or we lose as one.
So, we have the obligation to find out where and how we can contribute to the common goal of levelling up PH Agriculture. And that means, first of all, read!
Like on Facebook today, I read Eufemio Rasco's sharing about Vietnam's "12,593 hectares of low-yield rice fields converted into orchards," with this comment:
(Just my) wish that our government has a program like this. Can the RCEP fund be converted to RFCEP? F stands for the farmer who may not produce rice but will earn more.
To Mr Rasco: Whatever it means, the RCEP is not yet a done deal with the Asean countries, but Manong Willie did say, 08 October in a press conference in Legazpi City, "We need to formulate a crop diversification program to (improve) farmers' income[2]" (Mar Soriano, PNA).
And in today's column, Manong Willie says:
We have also started drafting the Crop Diversification Strategy that will also support rice farmers facing stiff competition from imports. Its guidelines have been crafted and will be subject to the approval of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) Program Steering Committee.
In fact, I have already written, "Never has a Secretary of Agriculture come out right on his first day of office firing from all cylinders![3]"
What remains to be done in the new PH Agriculture is for each of us to do our part in contributing to the immediate future; in the words of Manong Willie:
So, our vision for the future of Philippine agriculture is founded on the belief that only an agricultural growth based on prosperous rural communities can help us... wipe out poverty in our country.
So, where are We?!@517
[1]https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/12/05/opinion/columnists/topanalysis/the-first-100-days-and-beyond-2/661626/
[2]https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1082646
[3]https://iparadigmshifts.blogspot.com/2019/12/up-journalism-ph-agriculture-new.html
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