"Let There Be Light!"

[The following essay is 100% by Amparo “Lola Ampy” Medina Reynoso Hilario, 76, who as a first-time writer surprises me, her husband of 55 years, who has been formally writing for 57 years, her sharing of a radio interview on 15 May 2022, among others about the PH Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture William Dar. She knows my loyalties, of course. Note: Original edited for length. (My) title plus her text (except this note & author line) follows my self-imposed length: 517 words. My photograph of her taken in Asingan, Pangasinan 28 April 2018, in front of Danggay House.]

By Amparo “Lola Ampy” Medina Reynoso Hilario

Early morning, Sunday, 15 May 2022 (feast day of San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of farmers, and incidentally the name of the town in Nueva Ecija where I was born), while trying to tune in to a regular Sunday radio program (“Men of Light” over DZRV), I chanced upon another radio station SuperRadyo DZBB, the program title and name of host I missed, but the name of the person being interviewed and topics being discussed caught my attention and I decided to listen.

The guest was Dr Henry Lim, President of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (FFCCC). He was speaking for the FFCCC. He was asked a number of questions on different topics, such as the P33 wage increase for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila only; his answers were in my opinion clear and satisfactory.

On the composition of the incoming administration’s cabinet, three departments & their heads were mentioned: Finance (Sonny Dominguez), Trade & Industry (Ramon Lopez) and Agriculture (Dr William D Dar). The host and the guest agreed that these three government agencies were key and strategic instruments to the success of the country’s socio-economic recovery program (post-CoViD pandemic). Dr Lim remarked that both Dominguez and Lopez had been doing a “good job.”

Then came a side comment from the program host that it is the Department of Agriculture “na dapat mauna” (“should be first,” meaning in leadership change). To this, Dr Lim opined that Secretary Dar has also been doing a good job, but hampered by budgetary constraints. He even elaborated that for rice production, the Philippines cannot be fairly compared with those of Vietnam and Thailand due to some factors like difference of land area for rice production, not to mention the bigger share of % of GDP allocated to agriculture in both countries mentioned. Aside from that, Dr Lim noted that there were some issues beyond the control of the DA as they were not within the scope of the office, such as rice smuggling & hoarding. Dr Lim said that despite these, the DA had made some progress in terms of increased rice productivity.

Lastly, Dr Lim made a very strong and valid observation that the DA indeed is a very large agency that is in charge of multiple commodities/disciplines, not to exclude the need for continuous support and training of farm workers, entrepreneurs and even enthusiasts. In this context, he enumerated some of them – agricultural crops (for food, shelter, clothing, raw material for value-added products), farm animals (swine, poultry, ruminants); and on top of these, the agency is also tasked with the vast aquatic resources of the country. both fresh and marine resources – can you beat that!

At this juncture, the program was drawing to an end, and the radio host thanked the guest Dr Lim (and I thank him ,too, for setting the record straight as some parties had opted to make it an election and/or selection issue), and I switched to my regular Sunday radio program “Men of Light”.

And to all I say, “Let there be light!”@517
“Above image from The Kabbalah Center, kabbalah.com]