Ascendant President Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr Has Issued A Challenge: “Give Me A P20/Kilo Rice!” Current Secretary Of Agriculture William Dar Has The Vision, Mission & Strategy To Deliver The Good!

How do you manage a country? We will ask Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr who will be President of the Philippines. How do you manage the price of rice? We now ask current Secretary of Agriculture William Dar, who has the Vision, Mission & Strategy for PH Agriculture – I have observed his 4+ decades of local & international agricultural management experiences.

We need a President who has the Filipinos at heart; we need a Secretary of Agriculture who has the international and national grasps, plural! BBM has issued a challenge: “Give me a P20/kilo rice!”
(images: prices of commodities shared on Facebook, facebook.com; WDD from PNA, pna.gov.ph)

Bad news! Jasper Y Arcalas says “Higher Rice Production Costs Seen To Spur P6/Kilo Price Hike” (06 June 2022, BusinessMirror, businessmirror.com.ph):

Filipinos will grapple with more expensive rice in the coming months as the price… could increase by as much as P6 per kilogram due to higher production costs both locally and internationally.

If you have been observing PH Agriculture, you have seen the pandemic years as most challenging – but largely, agriculture has survived and even thrived, with the Servant Leadership of Mr Dar at the Department of Agriculture (DA). He also has unmatched research management experiences being (a) nationally, Director General of Los Baños-based PCARRD (1994-1998), and (b) internationally, Director General of India-based ICRISAT, for 3 terms (2000-2014) – he brought ICRISAT from dead last to #1 among international agricultural research agencies, including IRRI.

Columnist Ricardo Saludo says William Dar should be reappointed as Secretary of Agriculture because, among other things, he has “more than a dozen development roadmaps drafted under his watch” (05 June 2022, “After Finance, It's Food, Fuel And Foreign Affairs,” The Manila Times, manilatimes.net).

Dozen roadmaps?  “No, Sir!” No dozen roadmaps – that would be chaotic for Agriculture! What he brought in, almost 3 years ago, was this, as Lilybeth Ison said (06 Aug 2019, “DA Chief Eyes ‘New Thinking’ Strategy To Attain Food Security,” PNA, pna.gov.ph):

To attain food security, the vision of President Rodrigo Duterte, newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Dr William Dar has proposed a strategy of "new thinking" to advance the agriculture sector. "The new thinking's vision is to have a food secure Philippines with prosperous farmers and fisherfolk. Its mission is to collectively empower farmers and fisherfolk and the private sector to increase agricultural productivity and profitability, taking into account sustainability and resilience," said Dar in a press briefing on Tuesday held at the Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM) in Quezon City.

Mr Dar’s New Thinking is expressed in the DA’s slogan “Mataas Na Ani At Masaganang Kita.” (my translations: English: “Bountiful Harvests And Bounteous Income.” Ilocano: “Nangato Nga Ani Ken Napuskol Nga Biruk.”) Thank you, Mr Saludo, for pointing out that Mr Dar has “also formulated a 10-year plan for food systems transformation.”

Yes Sir! Mr Dar as the next Secretary of Agriculture will deliver BBM’s P20/kilo rice – and more!@517