No instant Agriculture! Manok Pinoy 10-Year Story: 30 Hens to 12,000 Chicken

Long before I entered public service and became Secretary of Agriculture in 2016, I was already a farmer.

All of us, 11 brothers were brought up by an industrious father who was a teacher and a farmer at the same time and a loving mother who was also a teacher.

My attachment to agriculture started right after birth.

In fact, the first photo of me as a human being showed me on the lap of my Nanay as a baby, my older brother, Patricio, held by Tatay as they sat on a “karosa” with chickens in the background.

Just like my father, we 11 siblings always had dual personas – soldier-farmer, mayor-farmer, governor-farmer and so on.

The constant was being a farmer, just as even with my new designation as Chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority, I am still a farmer.

Ten years ago, after failing in my bid to regain the Governorship of North Cotabato, I started focusing on my farm in Kidapawan City which I acquired in 1993, long before I joined politics.

An American friend, who used to breed gamefowl but is now one of the biggest dairy goat raisers in Oregon, Jim Clem, shipped to me several breeds of American heritage chicken.

During the shipment, however, the males died and I was left with 30 lonely hens with no rooster to mate with them.

At about the same time, an old Muslim friend from Pikit, Datu Musim Mamintal, who was later killed by an assassin, and his son, Jazim, brought me several Parawakan roosters.

Biglang sumaya ang buhay ng 30 na inahin. Nangitlog, nagkasisiw at noong katayin ko, lasang-lasa ko ang paborito kong native na manok.

So, I continued breeding them and improved my flock using practical genetics.

Last weekend, I made the rounds of the farm and the breeding and rearing yards and realized that after so much trials, frustrations, challenges and financial difficulties, I have over 12,000 roosters, hens and chicks in my farm now.

Lahat ito nag-umpisa lang sa 30 inahin from Jim Clem and the Parawakan roosters from the late Datu Musim.

Now, I have set my chicken as a distinct breed and call them Manok Pinoy, a brand which is registered under my name by the Intellectual Property Office.

Why am I relating this story?

Ito yong sagot ko duon sa mga nag demand na dapat maganda ang performance ng Agriculture Sector every Quarter.

Akala nyo ba Instant Coffee ang Agriculture?

It takes 5 years before Coconuts would bear fruit, over 2 years before a goat would kid, 10 years for my Lanzones to flower and bear fruits and 10 years to develop a chicken breed which could now be a game changer in the backyard chicken industry not only in Mindanao but the whole country.

Agriculture is long-term planning and projection.

You don’t address an imminent food supply crisis by proposing programs only now.

Being a farmer, I understand this which is why today, I have enough chicken to feed my family for the next 10 years.

#HwagLaitinTunayNaMagsasaka!

#FoodSecurityIsForwardPlanning!

#PlantsDontBearFruitsOvernight!