Is Manila Bulletin The Only PH Media Aware Of Its Responsibility As Far As Climate Change Is Concerned? Asking For A Friend!

The top image is accompanied by Manila Bulletin (MB) with this text: “Webb telescope reveals deepest infrared image of early universe.” (uploaded 11 July 2022). MB is enamored with “deep space” – I ask, what about the world we live in, the hundreds of cities, thousands of villages, and millions of farms?

MB columnist Sonny Coloma is happy to report that that media is not only climate-change aware but is doing some things concrete to help combat Climate Change. He refers to it as the ESG Framework – Environmental, Social & Governance (24 Nov 2022, “ESG: Walking The Talk On Ensuring Sustainability,” Manila Bulletin, mb.com.ph). Mr Coloma’s says:

…  Manila Bulletin is conducting its first Sustainability Forum that focuses on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework that has been adopted by many corporations.

ESG is not lip service to MB:

Last month, we revived our face-to-face Sketchfest involving children, youth and budding professional artists in Davao, Cebu and Metro Manila with the theme, “Saving the Earth.” The images they produced impel us to reflect:

Are we are sufficiently aware of the breadth and depth of the sustainability challenge – or as former US Vice President Al Gore cautioned the world nearly two decades ago, are we still looking away at an inconvenient truth?

MB is focusing on Sustainability as response to Climate Change: “The work of attaining – and ensuring – sustainability goes on 24/7; even as we pause.”

I go beyond Sustainability to Regenerativity (my coinage). My research tells me that one of major reasons, if not the major reason that greenhouse gases (GHGs) “continue to rise unchecked” is the continued application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

And so I journalist in agriculture challenge all of Manila Bulletin to junk “Truth Journalism” and instead engage in what I call “THiNK! Journalism.” (See my 24 Oct 2017 essay “THiNK! Journalism: Calling For Nobler Kinds Of People In Media” (Creative Thinkering, blogspot.com).

What MB needs to do is find out for itself how, and how much GHGs Chemical Agriculture is contributing. Our farmers are our Climate Change enemies themselves!

Mr Coloma says, “We do our part in sustaining the environment.” Thank you, Sir, but you have to do more than “sustain” – you have to help “prevent” the further contribution of GHGs at least from agriculture. After all, MB is the publisher of the monthly Agriculture Magazine (Agrimag), now 25 years old (Oct 2022).

Happy! Today, Saturday, 26 Nov 2022, I find Agrimag publishing “Fighting Climate Change Through Agriculture” (24 Nov 2022):

According to Martin Lemoine, Head of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Private Sector Agribusiness Unit, methane from farm animals and nitrous oxide from fertilizers are the two main agricultural GHG emissions. However, there are already interventions, such as modified animal feeds, alternate irrigation practices, specialty fertilizers, and the use of biochar as a soil additive that can reduce emissions.

The article is not original; its source is ADB (adb.org) – but I'm glad because it shows Agrimag has woken up!@517

 

Rappler As News Group Does Think Digital, But Why Is Rappler Still Practicing The Bare Truth Journalism Instead Of The Better Truth Journalism!?

Above: Rappler journalists at the office, too serious for comfort and most importantly, for creativity! No matter the newness of those personal computers (PCs) and no matter the seating arrangements, Rappler people are still thinking Old Journalism, what I call “Truth Journalism,” the opposite of “Rotary Journalism” – “Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

The top image is from “Rappler Job Openings” (rappler.com); I got it when I clicked on Angelica Cyril C Adivoso’s Facebook sharing Monday, 21 Nov 2022. I was interested in the journalism Rappler continues to practice – Nothing new! Rappler calls its own “Investigative journalism.” Whatever. The world’s journalism will never pass the Rotary 4-Way Test!

When I clicked the Facebook sharing, I found old news – 07 March 2017, or 5+ years old! I don’t know what prompted Ms Angelica to share it, but I'm glad she did because I can see that:

Rappler is improving the lives of its journalists working at the office – but not the lives of the people they are working for. From its Mission Statement: “Rappler aims to speak truth to power and build communities of action for a better world.” Where are those “communities of action”? Asking for a friend!

The job openings at Rappler in 2017 were:

Programmatic Advertising Manager
Ad Operations Lead
Chief Technology Officer
Lead Quality Assurance Engineer
Application Support Engineer
Senior Content Strategist
Senior Data Analyst
Data Analyst
Data Curator
Community & Digital Communications Specialist.

Did you notice anything peculiar? I did! With all those PCs, Rappler now truly thinks digital, and now wants to build up its data processing staff – it now wants to digest the “facts” that some people claim as true, especially government officials, when the data shows otherwise. “Your Truth is Lesser than Ours!”
(“Think Digital” from techstartups.com)

Rappler – Time for intellectual change! Not only instrumental change. What do I mean? I mean, instead of journalism against the Bad People in Government, why not journalism against the Bad in Society: People Poverty and Climate Change? I would call it “Communication for Rational Development" (ComRaDe).

No, I am not applying for a job at Rappler’s now, but if they change their style from radical to what I would call “comradical,” I will!

Neither is it for me to say how Rappler will do it; it has to discover by itself how as a group it can pursue journalism that will help government and people fight People Poverty and Climate Change.

In any case, I can give inspiration to Rappler journalists – as agriculturist (UP Los Baños, BSA major in Ag Edu, 1965); “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing,” 2011 (the one and only in the 100-year history of the UP System) – I have been pursuing “Regenerative Agriculture” that I have scaled for my purpose into a single principle: “Organic Agriculture.” Proselytizing for organic agriculture, happily I have my hands, head & heart full!@517

 

“Climate Changes Agriculture” – What Is That Animal? Asking For A Friend!

My hope for the Philippines, nay the world, is now expressed in this new phrase (plural): “Climate Changes Agriculture” – compare my earlier phrase (singular): “‘Climate Change Agriculture’ – BBM Sir, With That Package You Have A Major Reason For Budget Request For Billions For Citizen Protection And Cultivator Prosperity!” (07 Nov 2022, The Evergreen Revolution, blogspot.com).
(“Climate Changes” image from embibe.com)

At any rate, that’s my Hope. And “Hope Requires Action,” says Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala. So I continue to write. Today, I want to do fieldwork following my own advice. So: Institution or individual, if you can arrange for a 5-10 ha of ricefield and a budget to match, I am willing to be a practicing farmer – not only a practical writer – and show the world by actual practice what I call Rotavator WEALTh– using an off-the-shelf rotavator with my strict instructions.

By the way, if you don’t know me, I am a full-blooded Ilocano son of an Asingan, Pangasinan farmer, a UP Los Baños alumnus (BS Agriculture Ag Edu, weighted average 2.36, 1965; Civil Service Professional 80.6%, 1964).

Repeat: I want to actually practice my advocacy, that which today I encapsulate into 3 words: ‘Climate Changes Agriculture” (CCsA). [I first wrote about the singular “Climate Change Agriculture” (CCA) in 2018; see my essay “Organic Farming & The Lesson Of The Rotavator: How To Feed The World” (26 March 2018, iOrganic Country, blogspot.com].

Here are the climates that CCsA is designed to change for better:
(“Save” image from istockphoto.com)

Climate of Enemy Weather– Stop Conventional Agriculture! Scientists will tell you those chemical fertilizers and pesticides generate those greenhouse gases (GHGs) in our millions of hectares of farms in all major Philippine islands. If instead all our farmers practice organic farming all over the country, we should be able to minimize typhoons, floods and landslides.

Climate of Enemy Poverty – If farmers practice what I am preaching as Climate Changes Agriculture, their costs of production will go down to negligible, almost zero, because they do not need to buy fertilizers (and pesticides) of any kind.

[The organic mulch that is created by any off-the-shelf rotavator operated under my strict instructions will provide more than enough fertility. (How do you create that organic mulch automatically? See my 01 Nov 2022 essay, “BBM’s Dream Of P20/Kg Rice – To Help Make That Dream Come True Almost Immediately, Somebody Fund Me As I Re/Invent A Mechanically Intelligent ‘Masaganang Sakahang Kabalikat’ Rotavator (‘MSK Rotavator’),” The Evergreen Revolution, blogspot.com).]

Climate of Enemy Foods– Since our farmers always apply chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides on our crops, they always harvest farm produce – fruits, grains, leaves, roots – that are laden with chemically derived nutrients and pesticide residues, our foods are always unhealthy.

Climate of Enemy Prices of Farm-Produced Foods – Even without my MSK Rotavator, with organic farming, without certification, farmers will spend much less and earn much more, so that BBM’s P20/Kg dream rice will easily come true.

Climate Changes Agriculture – If we do not stop Chemical Agriculture, Climate Change will stop all of us!@517

 

“The Next UP President Must Be An Artist, Not An Activist!” – Frank A Hilario, Indefatigable Blogger

I think that the UP System, unintentionally nourished by UP Diliman, does not realize that it is its own im/mortal foe – UP is sleeping with the enemy! This is a UP Los Baños alumnus speaking, “Outstanding Alumnus For Creative Writing” 2011, the one and only in the entire 114 years history of UP.

(UP Diliman campus from free-apply.com)

American professors Amy J Binder & Jeffrey L Kidder say, “Many of tomorrow’s political leaders are college students now. The debates and fights taking place often spill into American popular culture, so it is critically important to understand the structural forces shaping the content and tenor of campus politics” (The Channels Of Student Activism, University of Chicago Press, 2022). I say, same with UP!
(“The Channels” from press.uchicago.edu)

UP alumnus & PhilStar columnist Jose Dalisay says, “The Next UP President” (14 Nov 2022, PhilStar, philstar.com) “will be certain to have a challenging six years ahead, especially considering the present political regime…”

And how is UP today? Mr Dalisay says:

… UP is a broad and diverse community whose survival and growth will require keen diplomatic skills to negotiate between the university’s external and internal publics… What’s important is for them to be able to practice and defend the academic freedom that also allows the university to become the best it can be.

“The academic freedom that also allows the University to become the best it can be” – No Sir, Mr Dalisay! UP’s exercise of “Academic Freedom” has always been at the expense of “Development Freedom” – the channels of UP student activism have always been contrarian, not communitarian, not once community well-being!

“Development Freedom” doesn’t come naturally. A UP alumnus, I have taught myself the best I can be –thank God, even at 82. A UP Los Baños BSA major in Ag Edu 1965, 2.36 WA. From high school, I inspired my own writing & editing talents, slowly but surely – and starting 1985, talents digital.

Even while working 1975-1981 as writer and editor with the Forest Research Institute (FORI), I came up with the theory “Communication for Development (ComDev); I recently modified it into “Communication for Village Development in the 21st Century (CoViD21).” (Check it out: The Evergreen Revolution, blogspot.com.)

Now, the essence of CoViD21, however remote, I do not find any trace within the UP System – UP has 8 constituent universities: UP Baguio, UP Cebu, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños, UP Manila, UP Mindanao, UP Open University, and UP Visayas. What I find is “communication for villain development” – I mean, especially UP Diliman, the public releases are often contrarian.

Especially UP Diliman. Those people know only their personal rights, but not the people’s right to further knowledge in science. Thus: UP Diliman has 30 technical journals but only 03 are up-to-date! (Check out my 11 Nov 2022 essay, “UP Ranks 412th In The Latest Quacquarelli Rankings Worldwide & Is Proud Of It! Mahiya Ka, UP, My Alma Mater!” Ctrl+click here: blogspot.com.)

Repeat: The next UP President should be an artist, not an activist!@517

 

PH Farmers’ Revolt, 2 – Why BBM And The Department Of Agriculture Should Much Finance New And Existing Organic Groups To Improve Both Farmer Lives & Climate!

Organic Agriculture/Farming is not unknown in the Philippines. So, BBM Sir, you could have your P20/kg rice by your government subsidizing organic farming in all islands of our country! Science is on your side here: It’s much cheaper & healthier. “Science with a farmer’s face” (to borrow from ex-Secretary of Agriculture William Dar).

(BBM image from maharlika.news)

I was browsing the blogsite “Nature And Farming” by Farmer’s Place – I thought it was a credible source of information on organic farming; it said:

Organic agriculture does not permit the use of synthetic chemicals to produce plant and animal products, relying instead on the management of soil organic matter… and biological processes. In some parts of the world, farms must be inspected and certified before their food products can be sold as organic, indicating that no synthetic chemicals were used in producing them.

Correct! But I found this sentence following the above in the exact same paragraph: “[Conservation Agriculture] does allow farmers to apply synthetic chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides and herbicides.”

Conservation farming with chemicals?! No Sir!

The title of that article is “Conservation Agriculture In The Philippines” (24 March 2015, Nature And Farming, blogspot.com, my source of above image.)

That does it! “Conservation Agriculture” is not for me no matter the pleasant-sounding name! This version of Agriculture cannot help us fight Climate Change!

The blogger “Farmer’s Place” does not state where in the Philippines it is coming from – anyway, goodbye! (But thanks for the image above.)

There is much hope! We go now to a certain place in the Philippines that knows what conservation agriculture should be.

That place to visit in the Philippines? Negros Occidental. I am now reading the article by Benedicto  Sanchez quoting himself in his column “Nature Speaks” – “Sanchez: Organic Agriculture Program Of Negros Occidental” (13 July 2022, SunStar, sunstar.com.ph). He has had intellectually productive encounters with upland farmers and indigenous peoples in Negros Occidental and other places in the Philippines.

Mr Sanchez says:

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, organic agriculture is an effective strategy for mitigating climate change by building robust soils that are better adapted to extreme weather conditions associated with climate change.

There are accomplishments of the organic agriculture program of Negros Occidental – I select only 3:

* Conversion of almost 15,000 hectares of land to organic agriculture

* Established laboratory production centers for biological agents in five of the six targeted villages

* Increased farmers’ average production and income by 25 to 30 percent through provision of inputs and hands-on training on different organic farming technologies.

Concluding, Mr Sanchez says, “Negrense environmentalists can proudly raise their heads on ensuring safe and healthy foods thru organic agriculture and help[ing] mitigate climate change.”

If in each of the provinces in the Philippines an organic agriculture program were established and run as Mr Sanchez describes it, with government subsidies where necessary and/or desirable, the Philippines would be a tropical paradise indeed!@517

To Carry On The Evergreen Revolution & Eventually Defeat Climate Change, The Least We Can Do Is Pursue Organic Agriculture

If I keep thinking of how to defeat Climate Change and bring on The Evergreen Revolution, I will defeat myself – it’s difficult, it’s impossible! So? I take it one day at a time.

(“How do we” image from youtube.com, “Impossible” from themuse.com, “One day” from youtube.com)

Now then, I see Organic Farming as the path on the way to help defeat Climate Change. Exactly what is organic farming? On Facebook, ANJANADADRI Organic Farmer says (“Organic Farmers,” facebook.com):

Organic farming… in India… is being followed from ancient time. It is a method of farming… primarily aimed at cultivating the land and raising crops in such a way, as to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes (crop, animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other biological materials along with beneficial microbes (biofertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for increased sustainable production in an eco-friendly, pollution-free environment.

From vikaspedia(vikaspedia.in):

Organic farming is a production system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, genetically modified organisms and livestock food additives. To the maximum extent possible organic farming [relies] upon crop rotations, use of crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, {off-farm] organic wastes, biofertilizers, mechanical cultivation, [mineral-bearing] rocks and aspects of biological control to maintain soil productivity and tilth to supply plant nutrients and to control [insects], weeds and other pests.

To that long list, I will add my favorite, what I call “Rotavator WEALTh” – my method of rotavation that automatically produces an organic mulch out of weeds and soil, and spreads it automatically all over the field. (“WEALTh” is acronym for “Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health.”)

Also according to vikaspedia, here are the:

Advantages of organic farming:

1.     It helps to maintain environment health by reducing the level of pollution.

2.     It reduces human and animal health hazards by reducing the level of residues in the product.

3.     It helps in keeping agricultural production at a sustainable level.

4.     It reduces the cost of agricultural production and also improves the soil health.

5.     It ensures optimum utilization of natural resources for short-term benefit and helps in conserving them for future generation.

6.     It not only saves energy for both animal and machine, but also reduces risk of crop failure.

7.     It improves the [soil’s] physical properties such as granulation, good tilth, good aeration, easy root penetration and improves water-holding capacity and reduces erosion.

8.     It improves the soil’s chemical properties such as supply and retention of soil nutrients, reduces nutrient loss into water bodies and environment, and promotes favorable chemical reactions.

With all those benefits, I think Filipino farmers do not think about organic farming! It’s so much easier to buy those chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides.

Some experts claim organic farming is too laborious. That is correct – if you do not know how to simplify the procedures. That is also a bad excuse from contributing to the battle against Climate Change!@517

 

“Climate Change Agriculture” – BBM Sir, With That Package You Have A Major Reason For Budget Request For Billions For Citizen Protection And Cultivator Prosperity!

BBM Sir, being Secretary of PH Agriculture is the damnedest good reason for demanding from Congress a budget by the billions (plural)! The climate threat from all sides you can “see” from the above image, “Philippine Exposure Map On Climate Change” by UPLB researcher Elaine Matanguihan (18 Nov 2018, “Philippines Biofuels Act Of 2006 For Pollution Control Policy Evaluation,” researchgate.net). The image is old; the threat is much older!

Pollution is nothing! The image-graph actually recites Climate Change effects. Thus, Cluster X states:

Extreme heating events; increasing ocean temperature; extreme rainfall events; disturbed water budget; sea level rise.

I added the hand tractor with rotavator blades because I believe Agriculture is a major source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that produce Climate Change! BBM Sir, you are sitting on the Big Source of and therefore the Big Solution to Climate Change – Agriculture!

No, not even my favorite Secretary of Agriculture William Dar is sold to the idea that all fertilizers and pesticides in PH farmlands should be organic. Mr Dar is for “Balanced Fertilization” (BF) – but the chemical part of BF continues to be the source of GHGs, and that is not acceptable.

So BBM Sir, I urge you as PH President and concurrently Secretary of Agriculture to request, nay, demand, from Congress a “Climate Change Agriculture” budget by the billions of pesos to include the following items to give free to farmers:

1.     organic fertilizers & pesticides

2.     seeds of rice, inbred and hybrid

3.     farm equipment for cultivation, harvesting, storage and processing into products

4.     rotavators redesigned – to prevent cultivation that increases emissions of GHGs.

4. The Climate Change Rotavator 

Today, the ubiquitous off-the-shelf rotavator is “an easy way to remove weeds and loosen soil while preparing the bed for planting” (Jackson & Gocher, jacksonandgocher.co.uk).

Hah! The rotavator used “to remove weeds” is the unintelligent part – weeds make good organic fertilizer!

In my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, 57 years ago my brother-in-law Enso Casasos had done exactly as I instructed the operator of the big Howard rotavator – and his yields always had far exceeded his neighbor farmers who neither knew nor noticed what to do exactly with their rotavators. Today, we need the “Climate Change Rotavator!”

Climate Change Rotavator Budget Proposed: P1.7 million for the redesign including purchases of materials, P0.5 million for techno demos in all regions of the country.

What that Climate Change Rotavator will do every time is to automatically cut the weeds and soil and mix them together in each rotating motion, so that at the end of a stretch, an organic mulch has been created – and distributed – all over the field. My original idea.

The organic mulch provides fertility to the soil and natural robustness to the crops that will bear healthy produce – to enrich the bodies of food consumers and pockets of farmers. We must do away with chemical fertilizers and pesticides!

BBM Sir, Climate Change Agriculture will undoubtedly increase Filipino Protection and Farmer Prosperity. Making History!@517

 

2X Thank You, Dr MS Swaminathan, For Being The Father Of India’s Green Revolution And The World’s Evergreen Revolution!

I first blogged about Dr MS Swaminathan 11 years ago (“2^ndGreen Revolution (0). From Pessimism To Possibility To Prosperity!” (30 June 2011, Creative Thinkering, blogspot.com). The “2^nd Green Revolution” was/is the “Evergreen Revolution,” Mr Swaminathan’s brilliant brainchild. And then I forgot about it/him – that was because I myself was not paying much attention to Climate Change. Now I say, “Now is the time for Primate Change for Climate Change! And we need to wage the Evergreen Revolution.”

(“MS Swaminathan” from leverageedu.com)

ANN says (Author Not Named, “Evergreen Revolution In India” (JournalsOfIndia, journalsofindia.com):

[The] evergreen revolution refers to productivity improvement in perpetuity without ecological and social harm.

Mr Swaminathan himself wrote (01 Sept 2006, “An Evergreen Revolution” (Wiley Online Library, acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com), about the Green Revolution:

Environmentalists emphasized that the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, as well as the monoculture of a few crop cultivars… create serious environmental problems, including the breakdown of resistance and the degradation of soil fertility.

This is what I wrote in 2011 (30 June 2011, “2nd Green Revolution (0). From Pessimism to Possibility to Prosperity!” Alternative Journalism, blogspot.com):

40 years ago, the Green Revolution led by Norman Borlaug was a smash success in doubling yields, trebling incomes, and quadrupling hopes – but not in helping the poor farmers rise from poverty. It was not in the design.

It is not a simple proposition, ICRISAT Director General William Dar said:

The goal for the agricultural sector is no longer simply to maximize productivity but to optimize it as a business proposition across a far more complex landscape of production, rural development, environmental, social justice and food consumption outcomes.

I said:

Dar was saying the next Green Revolution must be beyond higher yields. For the farmers, it must now become a business, considering costs and returns not only to the farming family but also to other families in the village and beyond, the returns not only food and monetary but also environmental and social. Farming cannot be sustainable if the poor farmers remain poor, if the soil is abused, if the environment is degraded, if farmers don't get the benefits that they deserve because the market system denies them.

I say organic farming is the single most practical way of waging the Evergreen Revolution. Instapediasays (insightsonindia.com, also source of bottom image):

[Organic farming] is a method of farming which is primarily aimed at cultivating the land and raising crops in such a way as to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes (crop, animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and other biological materials along with beneficial microbes (bio fertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for increased sustainable production in an ecofriendly, pollution-free environment.

Organic farming is Regenerative Agriculture. It renews the soil’s natural fertility, which then requires no fertilizers, which then grows healthy crops, which then require no pesticides, which then produce healthy harvests, which then naturally enrich the farmer…

The best is yet to come with organic farming!@517