THiNK DiFFERENT*

“Pinoys absolutely love pork. Randomly enter a restaurant and there’s a fat chance you’ll sniff the rousing aroma of sizzling sisig , grilled liempo or if your host is big-time, lechon – a whole roasted pig!” That’s what Gregg Yan say s [1] (03 January 2020, Thepigsite.com ). Count me in! I just love to bite into the crispy skin of a lechon and never ever think of hypertension – I’m just lean & mean. (lower “Backyard Pig Farming” image [2]  from PCARRD.dost.gov.ph ) There is some unsolicited advice about what to do with the current problematic PH supply of pork because of the African Swine Fever (ASF), comment/advice slyly directed at Secretary of Agriculture William Dar . Thank you, but you are assuming Mr Dar has no “Whole-Hog Plan” if I may call it that. You don’t know Mr Dar has been a science manager for 33 years, up to and including his incredible stint as the longest-running Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (I...

Lower image says, “Stories That Prove Filipino Police Are Heroes [1] ” (from Newsgraph ). That explains my choice of photograph to illustrate my story. The news comes from Down Under by Celeste Macintosh , “Police-Led Farming Program Becomes Covid Lifeline For An Island Voted ‘Best In The World [2] ’” (13 February 2021, SBS Filipino ). Ms Celeste says: After being recognized in 2019 by the readers of Conde Nast Travel as the “best island in the world,” Siargao Island drew even more tourists and surfing enthusiasts from around the world. As tourism picked up in (this) southern Philippines island, more farmers and (fishers) “abandoned their traditional livelihoods to earn fast cash from foreign tourists,” and petty crimes flourished in the key island municipality of General Luna. Easy come, easy go. Farming is easy if you ask this farmer’s son who is also an Agriculturist, UP '65, but fast cash is more tempting by selling something, anything. Goodbye carabao, hello tourists! Hell...

David Osborne invented brainstorming ( Lila MacLellan, “ The Man Who Gave Us Brainstorming Meetings Did His Best Thinking Alone [1] ,” 06 August 2019, Quartz At Work ). Come to think of it, I do my best brainstorming thinking alone myself! Not to rob the credit from Mr Osborne, I Frank A Hilario am right now announcing to the creative world that I have just reinvented Brainstorming into Brainscaping, meaning you create your own intellectual landscapes when trying to come up with something else, or some things new, out of the chaos of materials you have gathered or thought of. Hence this new blog of mine: Brainscapes (https://braincapes.blogspot.com). (the landscape image [2]  above is from Dryicons.com ) In thinking brainscape , think landscape . Landscape is: “all the visible features of an area of countryside or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal” – Oxford Dictionary; “everything you can see when you look across an area of land, including hills, rivers, ...

When families think big, think village, they can succeed where singular others fail. So we have this news from the Department of Agriculture (DA): “Lipa City Families Showcase Successful Community ‘Stables & Greens’ Gardens” dated 12 February 2021. The complete name of the DA project is: “Stables & Greens: Agri-Livestock Integrated Support to Covid-19-Prone Areas” (ALIS-Covid Project). The aim of “Stables & Greens” is “to mitigate the effects of the pandemic by promoting agri-livestock household production for consumption and the use of various technologies for meat, egg, and vegetable production.” Actually gardens & farms. Not just 1 family but we are talking here of 156 families in the village of San Benito in Lipa City, some 55 km away from Manila. Even as their Stables & Greens project started only last year, they have already completed 3 harvests from their 1,500 sqm community garden, or from only 15% of 1 ha. I say: The many have succeeded with a few! This...