Is William Dar Sleeping On The Job, Or BusinessMirror Sleeping With The Mouse?

Here is a leading question:

“What is an Editor In Chief supposed to do when he notices that the Editor In Chief of a significant national media in the Philippines states categorically in its Editorial what should be done with what it perceives the Secretary of Agriculture has not done – and he knows the other is in error?”

I have been Editor In Chief of several publications in both public & private universes in the last 45 years, but I never thought I would have to remind another Editor In Chief, well, to please verify first before you vilify; please confirm with your mouse before you condemn with your mouth!

It’s in agriculture, and I am an agriculturist; it’s updating others before updating oneself, and I am always surfing the World Wide Web – mixed metaphors notwithstanding. Before you tell people to update themselves, go update yourself, yourself!

The BusinessMirror has just come out with The Editorial “Adding Value To PHL Farm Produce[1]” 04 March 2020, in which it says in the beginning and end of it:

BusinessMirror’s Introduction:
The Philippines continues to rely on a few commodities to boost receipts from agricultural exports. The latest data on agricultural exports from the Philippine Statistics Authority would attest to this. Of the total agro-based exports last year, bananas and coconut oil remained as major sources of receipts.

If the PSA says so, it must be so. I have no reason to doubt the data from PSA. Liars will figure, but figures don’t lie.

BusinessMirror’s Conclusion:
It is time for the government to seriously consider tapping the exports market for agro-based products if it wants to hit its target of reducing poverty rate to 14 percent by 2022. The Philippines wasted a lot of time in the past, but it is not yet too late. Recent initiatives, such as the enactment of the Innovation Act (Republic Act 11337) will help pave the way for the development of new agro-based products that the country can offer to the world.

BusinessMirror saying, “It is time for government to seriously consider…” means it knows that Secretary of Agriculture William Dar/Manong Willie has not seriously considered “tapping the exports market for agro-based products.” That my dear Editor In Chief, is seriously wrong. That is why I reproduced above the image of “The Eight Paradigms” that enumerates the requirements for the Secretary of Agriculture’s “New Thinking for Agriculture,” that which he publicly announced at least 7 months ago yet (see tablet above), where #3 says, “Promotion of export is a necessity.”

BusinessMirror’s editorial was based on a 10-year old sort-of-manifesto titled “Solving Rural Poverty” submitted to that newspaper by Pacific Center for Food and Agri Business Executive Director Rolando T Dy, with him lately reminding people that “the Philippines continues to rely on a few commodities to boost receipts from agricultural exports.” So, following Mr Dy’s lead, BusinessMirror called the attention of government that the Philippines was not promoting agricultural exports enough.

Enough! Error happens when you’re not looking enough.@517

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[1] https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/03/04/adding-value-to-phl-farm-produce/?fbclid=IwAR0vvEKXDhE1zD1mFiE9Qy1cL4Ug6OI1YSh-8Le97gyjGbNc1dYWSvCs3MU