Prior to the Yolanda calamity, a big percentage of Region 8 farmers hardly practiced organic farming. Our farmers seem not to have accepted what science and technology could do to their farming activities, e.g. solve endless complaints about high cost of farming, fertilizer-wise, and the realization of their desire for higher harvest from agriculture products. We have been left behind, except for the few practicing farmers, even by smaller provinces like Camiguin. Thanks to their Mt. Timpoong Hibok-Hibok Ecotourism Association (MTHEA), now one of latest farmer-beneficiary of the Philippine-Korean project under the ANSOFT or Asian Network for Sustainable Organic Farming Technology. Already registered with the D.O.L.E., whose members are predominantly women folks, has now been actively engaged in organic farming like making fertilizers and bio-pesticides and are now successfully planting/harvesting organically-grown sweet potato, sweet peppers, corn, tomatoes, lettuce, and eggplants among others.

The MTHEA farmer-beneficiaries have been recipients of various trainings on organic production, including “how to conserve the soil by showing contour farming with various types of hedgerows used and mix of cash crops and perennials grown in between, organic fertility management practice and other agricultural practices like multiple cropping, crop rotation, crop diversification, integrated farming to reflect agro-biodiversity.“

It is hoped that the Leyte Province program of encouraging the farming of high-end vegetables, also adopt what MTHEA has ventured into. One advantage of the association is having entered into an organic farming village partnership with the Korean-based Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperative Initiative, Inc., of which the Philippines is a member.

NEXT TOPIC : On the Crucial Issue of Marine Plastic Pollution”
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WE have to understand that prayer is not an optional element in our life. It is something essential and indispensable. We are meant to pray always, making prayer like the very breathing and heartbeat of our spiritual life.

This truth of our faith is clearly articulated by Christ himself when he told his disciples to pray always without becoming weary. (cfr. Lk 18,1) St. Paul reiterated the same idea when he said, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” (1Thes 5,16)

And that is simply because prayer is the most basic way we have to get engaged or to get connected with God with whom we have to live our whole life. Our life is not simply our own. It is a life always with our Creator. It’s not a life that is kept in the natural level alone, governed solely by the laws of biology, chemistry, physics and the like. Our life should not just be subject to the sensible realities. It is meant to be spiritual.

And since our life is also spiritual, it is also a life that is meant to be supernatural, since it is meant to be a sharing in the life of God who has created us to be his image and likeness. Thus, we are endowed with intelligence and will so we can know and love him. To top it all, he has given us his grace so that our human nature can be elevated to the supernatural level of God.

It’s a very daunting challenge, no doubt, to be able to pray always and to convert everything that we do into some form of prayer. But whatever difficulty we can encounter in this regard does not detract from the fact that we need to pray always. Anyway, if we would just put our mind and heart into it, constant prayer can truly be achieved.
Let’s always remember that God is always around. He is actually intervening in our life. We can just call his name anytime, and he will all be there for us. That’s how accessible he is to us.

He may test us for a while, just like what happened in that story Christ told his disciples about a dishonest judge and an importunate widow. (cfr. Lk 18,1-8) But such test would only make us strengthen our faith, because Christ assures us that God will always listen and care for us.

It’s moving how that story ended and the lesson Christ wanted to impart to us. “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night?” he asked. “Will he be slow to answer them?” (Lk 18,7)

And it is also good to be reminded that prayer is not only a matter of saying some vocal prayers. It is more a matter of lifting our mind and heart to God in all moments of the day. We need not say anything. We need not do anything external. It is more a matter of being aware that we are always with God, and that everything we do is done with God and for God. That is what prayer is.

We need to convince ourselves that the very core of our consciousness should be God, not just ourselves. We may find that truth of our faith incredible, impracticable, etc. But if we have a strong faith, accompanied by our efforts, no matter how erratic, we can achieve that ideal that God himself means for us!

Reports have it that the number of endangered fish species in the country’s waters is increasing and that, those on the endangered list are going extinct, the efforts to salvage them going futile.

As usual, the prime culprits are illegal means such as dynamite fishing that destroy marine habitats, killing small fishes as well as the unhatched eggs, and driving bigger fishes to the brink of extinction.

Some measures must be done to address this problem. Those species that have utterly disappeared from marine habitats can no longer be retrieved, but the endangered ones can still be saved by protecting them from further destruction.

This requires political will from authorities who should pursue and penalize the abusers of the sea. Put the offenders behind bars if necessary so that others will not copy what they have been doing.

Campaigns designed to educate the people on the necessity to preserve endangered species must be done. All sectors should take part in this massive endeavor. The disadvantages of losing these species should be disseminated, and people should be instructed on what to do as regards advocating for marine resources preservation.
Media outlets must be tapped to ensure wide dissemination since people’s exposure to media outlets varies. Social media, above all, should serve as the leading enabler of information since most people nowadays are glued to Facebook and other socmed platforms.

In schools, students from elementary grades up to graduate levels should be informed about all this, and then told what to do so they, too, can participate in the conservation efforts. Teachers must look into this as the disseminators of knowledge.

Most importantly, this campaign should be sustained and not just left unattended to die a natural death after a few months. While some fish species remain endangered, efforts to protect them must prevail.

With the active participation of all sectors, awareness regarding marine life conservation would spread far and wide and become part of people’s priorities.

The loss of one species leads to another, and if we will do nothing about it, we might soon lose all of the remaining marine life, to our great loss and disadvantage.