Blood, gore sell the news MEDIA OBSESSED WITH DRUGS STUFF; DA ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVERLOOKED

By Manny Piñol

In Lamitan City, Basilan last Monday, I was interviewed by the media before the arrival of President Rody Duterte for a dialogue with farmers and fisher folks.

During the interview, I was asked about my reaction to what a reporter termed as “an impression” that the Duterte Administration was mainly focused on the anti-drugs campaign and that it performed poorly in other areas, especially poverty alleviation.

The question stung me and I shared with them my own impression of how the media have covered the accomplishments of the Duterte Presidency during the first 100 Days.

I am sharing here a video clip of that interview where I honestly expressed the view that if there is anybody who is obsessed with the anti-drugs campaign, it is the media.

Look at the front pages of the newspapers and you will agree with me that it is the media actually who are seeing nothing but the anti-drugs war waged by the President.

I called the attention of the media to the performance of the Department of Agriculture over the last 100 Days and pointed out that almost P1-billion worth of interventions, including farm equipment and machineries, livelihood assistance, rice and corn seeds, farm to market roads, fishing boats and other support services were delivered in record time.

Just in a period of 100 Days, the Dept. of Agriculture has already visited and held dialogues with agriculture and fisheries stakeholders in almost all provinces of the country except for about a dozen or so.

More than the roads, equipment, seeds, fishing boats and other livelihood assistance, the Dept. of Agriculture has accomplished monumental and historical achievements.

1. Free Irrigation – For the first time in the history of Philippine agriculture, the President of the Philippines has implemented a Free Irrigation policy, benefitting about 2.5-million farming families which inevitably is expected to make rice farming more profitable and the farmers more competitive with their Asian counterparts. This is historic and a radical shift from the irrigation policy where the provision of water is considered a business by government rather than a missionary duty.

2. Corporate Rice Farming – For the first time, the President has approved a concept of empowerment of the rice farmers by allowing them to deal directly with end users, as in supplying P21-B worth of rice to the 4Ps programs, thus effectively freeing themselves from the stranglehold of the middlemen and traders who manipulate the prices.

Soon, farmers cooperatives and associations will deal directly with big corporations and even government agencies who provide their workers with rice allowances.

This is the first step in liberating the farmers of corn and rice from the exploitation of the middlemen and traders who have made themselves rich at the expense of the poor farmer who could hardly send his children to school.

This is monumental.

3. Fisheries Development and Protection – For the first time, the country has declared a 3-month closed fishing in all fishing grounds of the country to allow the marine resources to be able to recover and provide more fish for the country.

This new advocacy is based on the successful experiment made by the previous administration in the fishing grounds of the Zamboanga Peninsula where a 3-month closed season for fishing has resulted in the fishing grounds teeming with larger “Tamban” or the Sardines fish to the point that Sardines manufacturers are now complaining that the fish have grown bigger than their desired size.

Fishermen are now involved in the protection of the marine sanctuaries and fishing grounds as “Bantay Laut” with the lowly Badjao sea gypsies being empowered to take the lead role.

4. Employment of Modern Technology – The Dept. of Agriculture has launched a smart phone apps which now allows farmers and fisher folks and other stakeholders to gain access to the different offices of the DA to relay their problems and concerns.

Called the FARMHELP, the farmers or fishermen could simply take a picture of a damaged irrigation canal or a diseased plant or animal and seek expert advise from the DA by sending it to a 24/7 answering service.

The first prototype of a Solar Powered Irrigation is now being constructed in the town of M’lang, North Cotabato which would be able to draw water from an impounding, dam, river or underground well using only solar energy.

It could irrigate 10 hectares in 8 hours or 100 hectares in 10 days virtually at no cost to the farmer except for the replacement of some parts.

There are many more great accomplishments by other departments as well but these have not been reported or focused on in the media.

Agriculture, land reform, economic and environmental stories do not sell newspapers or increase the viewership of the TV programs.

These are staid stuff which do not generate readers’ or viewers’ interest and should just be in the inside pages or mentioned in a by-the-by manner.

But the picture of a woman coddling her slain suspected-drug-pusher-husband gets splashed in the front pages. It’s dramatic and emotional.

Or the reported list of movie stars and actors get prominent space and airtime because these stories sell.

So, who is obsessed with the anti-drugs campaign stuff?

Ask the media. They should know.

(Video clip of my interview with the media downloaded from CNN Philippines.)

https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines/videos/1793783557528202