SRO Seminar Series –
Research Management & Institution Building.
SRO is Santiago Rigonan Obien, in barong, right, founding Executive Director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute, PhilRice, with headquarters in the Science City of Muñoz, where the seminar series is held during the anniversary celebration of PhilRice on the 5th of November. Main photo was taken during this year’s 35th celebration.
Rene is Tito Nato-Kuya Rene; his own effusive Facebook sharing is titled “33 Years of Partnership” – which means Rene came into the lives of SRO and PhilRice 2 years after PhilRice was created in 1985 by Executive Order of President Ferdinand Marcos.
Rene had a full-blown (and lucrative) appointment as architect with “a big firm working for projects in China” and he was “the CEO’s ‘anointed’.” Then SRO called, meaning his country called for him – he answered the call.
He does not say so, but Rene must have been the one who designed the PhilRice headquarters in Muñoz. (building image[1]from Rice Matters)
Rene writes further:
Taking notice maybe of how we scientifically placed our facilities combining integrity and aesthetics, we were sought by allies and (with my contributions), in considerable degree rose facilities of BAR, NDA, ATI. PhilMech and the regional office of BFAR in Iloilo (that) became the “compact model” for a biosafety laboratory in fisheries.
If you are good, people notice. If you are better, more people will notice more of you.
So, with the architecture of Agriculture-related PH government offices, as designer, Rene proved to be very good. Now, in the design of the acquired characteristics and relationships among human elements of the government offices, with SRO at the helm, PhilRice proved to be the best. In time, PhilRice was recognized as world-class.
Thank you, boys!
Now, let us talk about another designer life for PhilRice.
Towards the end of 2003, I was appointed an information consultant of PhilRice, which then was institutionally involved in the crafting of the mechanism and media to make the Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture, OpAPA, come to life. OpAPA was the brainchild of William Dar as Director General of ICRISAT based in India. During my brief second stay at PhilRice, I designed in my mind how to bring to life OpAPA and in fact produced a pdf of an entire book of 200 pages titled The Geography Of Knowledge. I still have a good copy of it.
Now that Mr Dar is Secretary of Agriculture, with direct supervision of PhilRice, I want to resurrect my OpAPA design to bring science to the Filipino farmers and help them directly link to current knowledge on any aspect of their farming, whether in crops or livestock, as well as postharvest handling, processing and marketing. With funds from the DA, today money is no object.
OpAPA must be based in PhilRice. While rice is the staple, there is a need for farmers to engage outside the monoculture of rice, to enrich their farms and families, to lead good, sustainable lives.@517
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