Department of Agriculture (DA) Special Order 168, specifically mandated the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) to create a Technical Working Group (TWG) determine the level of mechanization or mechanization Index (MI) for rice, corn, and sugarcane.

The TWG shall be composed of the Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) and the University of the Philippines – Los Banos (UPLB). The TWG aims to establish a standardized measure of the level of farm mechanization in the country.

The TWG, chaired by the BAFE director, included representatives from UPLB-College of Engineering (CLAT), PhiliMrch, Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), the National Corn Program, The Sugar Regulatory Administration, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries, and BAFE- Programs and Projects Management Division (PPMD). it shall collect and share information on existing computation methods for MI of rice, corn, and sugar. Likewise, the group shall gather pertinent data such as rice, corn and sugarcane production, total arable land used, and specifications of the machinery, among others. Each member agencies were given specific duties harmonized for the Philippine Agricultural Mechanization Index.

MY COMMENT:
The creation of the TWG is a must for DA having been tasked to increase agri-food production as a result of the mechanization program of the PBBM administration. Indeed, Filipino farmers must accept change in their farming methods and accept the advancement of technology resulting from continuous research and development (R & D) efforts of the Filipino scientists and engineers. Other well off countries are progressive and economically sound because they have long embraced science and technology for decades.
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We are all God’s creation and man was given the power to exercise dominion over all creation. Being the highest among all creation, we were given a habitat that is complete and beautiful, a paradise to live for all of mankind and the generations to come. Man was not only given a good place to live in, he was also given free will. As steward of the earth and of all creation, man was given the intellect to be able to exercise and perform the gargantuan task as steward of the earth including all living and non-living things.

It is well revisiting the historical fact in the book of Genesis where man was free to enjoy the fruits of the earth. All plants and animals are at man’s disposal, chiefly for his needs, to nourish his body and soul. It was when our forebears broke God’s commandment not to eat the forbidden fruit that led us to perdition.

Duped by the serpent, our first parents fell from God’s grace. The punishment of excruciating pain for every woman at childbirth and for man to toil by his sweat and blood for him and his family to eat, are passed on until this generation and those yet to come. As early as that condemnation of the original sin, man continues to suffer that punishment.
As man and woman kept God’s commandment to fill the world with children, we started to suffer from scarcity of the natural resources that God gave us to sustain life. We too are able to use our intellect to find ways to increase production of the resources that are needed to sustain our needs, primarily for food and medicines to cure our illnesses and keep us well and healthy.

But while man keeps on discovering solutions to fill the scarcity for food and medicines, all endeavors are outweighed by the effects of greed that affect man’s daily existence. With the scarce resources at hand, the greedy are finding ways to get rich for instance by hoarding, thereby creating a manmade scarcity that causes undue suffering of the people that could not find their basic needs to live decently.

The artificial situation pushes the poor and disadvantaged population to obtain the items at high prices beyond what they could afford. The unjust situation keeps the greedy laughing as the rake in huge profit at the expense of those hapless people in need. What is revolting is the fact that the poor people who suffer from high prices are the very ones who labored with their sweat and blood producing the products that are hoarded by the greedy.
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THAT’S right! With the resurrection of Christ, we have our greatest joy since we are now assured of our own redemption as long as we also do our part of the deal. Christ has given us everything to recover us from our self-inflicted alienation from God. The only thing that can stand in the way is when we obstinately refuse to believe this truth of our faith.

With his resurrection, Christ has finally conquered death itself and with it all the malice of sin and evil. It’s the victory that recovers our original dignity as image and likeness of God and nothing less than God’s children in Christ, the dignity we lost because of sin.

This ultimate victory even enhances that dignity, since it involves God becoming like us so that we can be like him! It’s this very sublime exchange and sharing that comprises the supreme good that can happen to us. Yes, we are meant to be one with God, sharing his very life and nature, since we are his image and likeness, children of his.

Some people have considered it a Pyrrhic victory since it involves quite a tremendous cost. It’s like saying that the resurrection of Christ has given us only a zero-sum triumph, since what we gain with it is almost the same as what we lose.

This is, of course, a very poor understanding of this truth of faith. While it’s true that this culmination of the redemptive work of Christ on us entailed nothing less than his life, it’s also true that that death has been converted into a gateway to our salvation with his resurrection. What matters is what happens in the end, with an effect that will be for always.

If we believe this truth and live it ourselves, identifying everything in our life with the life and the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, then we too can partake of this ultimate victory.

We should not forget that it will involve nothing less than the offering of our life. Before that, it obviously will entail a lot of suffering—the cross, in other words—which Christ already warned us about when he said that if we want to follow him, then we should deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.

It would be nice if we can quit wasting time by fussing about this truth, and simply proceed to live it, acquiring the relevant attitude and skills to put it into practice. Yes, with this truth about our assured ultimate victory in Christ, we ought to have the confidence and serenity in going about the affairs of our life. Plus, a driving sense of responsibility that should push us to do things for others without counting the cost.

We just have to deepen our belief that with Christ’s resurrection, sin and death have been definitively conquered, and a new life in God is given to us. We are now a new creation, with the power of Christ to conquer sin and death and everything else that stands in the way of our becoming true children of God.

And so, we have every reason to think that we can live forever in Christ over whom death no longer has dominion. In spite of whatever, we have every reason to be happy and confident, as long as we are faithful to Christ.