Welcome to ‘Sow and Till,’ a column that cultivates thought-provoking ideas and nurtures meaningful conversations. In this space, we’ll plant seeds of insight, till away misconceptions, and harvest perspectives on the issues that matter most – not only in the lives of our farmers, but also the other key stakeholders in agriculture.

My over 40 years service in the Department of Agriculture would probably serve as my humble credential to competently tackle almost every relevant issue besetting the country’s agriculture and fisheries sector.

Join us as we explore the true state of agriculture locally, and internationally. Analyzing pertinent intersections of our society, culture, and politics, will surely tickle the readers’ interest, and discover new ways to grow and thrive.

Sow and Till is a creative play on words – a parody to a more popular phrase “Show and Tell”.

While “Show and Tell” typically involves presenting and sharing information, often in a educational or creative setting, “Sow and Till” humorously applies agricultural terminology to convey a similar idea.

Possible applications or actual meanings of Sow and Till come in the following forms:

1. Farming and agriculture: Sow and till are essential steps in crop cultivation.

2. Personal growth: Sowing good habits and tilling away negative ones can lead to self-improvement.

3. Business and entrepreneurship: Sowing innovative ideas and tilling them into actionable plans can drive success.

I am hopeful that as a former DA information officer for more than three decades, a senior staff who have worn several hats, designated to various positions spanning 4 decades as a hardworking, honest and dedicated servant-leader, I could definitely share to, and enrich the ideas of the readers.

Finally, I am grateful to my worthy brother Massey Grafil, for giving me a space here at LSDE. I’ve been a contributing writer during my long stint as DA’s Regional Information Officer.

With God’s grace, reinforce by your overwhelming support, I will forever treasure this platform and commit myself to write and disseminate only useful, timely, and accurate information.

Words are not enough to express my profound gratitude. See you again in my next articles! Effata, effata, effata!

THE very first lesson we can learn from the life of St. Mary Magdalene is that no matter how big and ugly our sins are, God’s grace or gift of mercy is always there, more powerful than whatever damage our sins can inflict on us. It validates what St. Paul once said: “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.” (Rom 5,20).

We should never prolong our sadness over our mistakes, failures and sins. That would make the devil happy, since our sadness would make us a sitting duck to their evil tricks. We would not have the strength to protect ourselves.

Instead, even as we carry a heavy heart because of our sins, we should just follow the example of St. Mary Magdalene who showed greater love to Christ precisely because of her sinfulness that was forgiven. She wanted to make up, and did so with burning zeal.
As a consequence, she even received more favors from Christ. Among them is the fact that she became the first one to meet Christ after the resurrection, although our tradition maintains—and this is not explicitly mentioned in the Gospels—that Our Lady must have met Christ soon after his resurrection.

We have to reassure ourselves, based on what Christ has promised and has actually done for us, that there can be no sin that is too big for the grace of God to handle.

We have to remember that nothing happens in this life without at least the knowledge and tolerance of God. And if God allows some really bad things to happen, it is because a greater good can always be derived from them.

We just have to put ourselves in God’s side to tackle whatever crisis or sin plagues us. That is the real challenge we have to face. And just like what Christ did and continues to do to redeem us, we have to follow the formula he once spelled out: deny ourselves, carry the cross and then follow him. (cfr. Mt 16,24)

If we are willing to do that, then we can even gain a lot more than what we appear to lose and to suffer because of our sin. In other words, we can say that the bigger, the more serious the problem or the sin is, the bigger, plentier and stronger also would the grace God will give us. So, let us just be game and do our part of the bargain.

It’s not easy, of course. But neither is it impossible. It would really depend on how we see things. If we only consider the enormity of the problem, then we cannot help but feel overwhelmed and even get discouraged. But if we consider God’s abundant grace, even the impossible can be possible for us.

We need to educate ourselves always to remain calm and optimistic when faced with our persistent sinfulness, and just try our best to discern what God is showing us with respect to resolving that unfortunate condition of ours.

Yes, we have to learn to suffer. But let’s never forget that there is always the resurrection of Christ. Christ has already won for us the war against any form of evil. We just have to learn to be with him and not be so stupid as to do things simply on our own.

We have to strengthen our conviction that every sin we commit is an opportunity to grow in strength and quality in our spiritual life, in our love for God and others and the world in general. Yes, we need to develop a proper love also for the world. We have to conquer the world that will always be beset with the effects of our sins.

Manny Pacquaio returned and lost the battle, but he gained the respect of the world.
For all the numbers, the events, the speculations, the conspiracy theories Manny Pacquaio calmly did his job, well, strong and awesomely true. Mario Barrios was younger by 16 years, bigger, taller wider, longer reach and has been through recent wars. Manny fought Udonis Ugas a good 700 days back and after that he just toyed around with exhibition matches and as a Family Man, earn his keep.

Mario Barrios was amazed by the stamina and quickness of Manny and said he was honored to fight the Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. He said, he will fight again Manny, soon. Which means the rematch is surely a possibility?

For us spectators, we are happy. Manny is a comfort food and a chance to unleash the fighting spirit that in most days are in slumber. For most of us, we view the match as a triumph of focus, purpose, and discipline. While we are watching the match, we are praying that Manny can hold the line and boy he was even more amazing than we expected. And as the fight progress, we were so happy seeing and being given the proof that we men above 40 years old can still rock, a little bit, a little slower yet Manny said fight on!

As we face daily struggles and daily grind where the physical and the mental and even the financial challenges came full swinging, punching we are happy to see how many faced the onslaught with calm and possibility, kaya Pala!

Today, Manny proved that focus, purpose, and discipline can tame the reality of entropy and that time can be slowed and fight can be won, if only we will have the heart, the resolve of that old guy. It is not just a cliché ; it was proven today.

The separation of the three branches of government is a setup that affords independence and autonomy from each other. The judicial branch, chiefly the supreme court, the appellate court and the lower courts are able to maintains its independence and autonomy. But the legislative branch could not claim absolute independence and autonomy as it is at times under the influence of the executive branch. That is the reason why the executives are interested and are actually interfering in the election of those running for seats in the legislature.

Such interest in the election of candidates that are running for legislative office begin way prior to the election. It usually starts with the selection as to who among the many aspirants would be included in the official party lineup. The primordial consideration is part loyalty. Winnability is also an important factor as the aim is to obtain a majority in the number of seats that the party must win. After all, a non-winnable candidate will just be a liability to the party. The weak candidate would just drag the entire lineup to perdition.
In the event that the administration party fails to obtain the number of seats that would ensure majority votes to support the legislative priorities, the party would resort to luring others from the opposition or minority parties to join the administration. The strategy seems effective as it usually results into what is known as bandwagon effect where mere neutral spectators join the bandwagon ride of those lured into the party. This practice is seen as prevalent from the national to the local levels.

The aim of the executive is to build a team inside the legislative body to ensure that the executive will be able to implement the administration’s programs and projects shall be carried through the support of the legislators.

The challenge for those who are true to their being in the minority or opposition is to maintain the check and balance in the legislative department. The crucial role of the opposition is to remain as consistent fiscalizers who will keep in check any irregularities that the majority may push. This will keep the public well informed of the actions that the administration is pursuing. Minority as they are, they can keep vital issues into good discussion and debate, subjecting administration proponents to detailed interpellation.

The minority knows the fact that no matter their ficalizing, the majority will always prevail when any issue is submitted to votation. The majority will always prevail as they have the numbers to ensure that all their proposed legislation will pass. But the minority should never let their guard down, especially when the agenda is the proposed budget. They too must ensure that appropriations for any expenditure must be in accordance with auditing rules and procedures. In the end, getting the support of the majority of the members of the legislative body to ensure the passage of programs and projects of the local chief executive is pure and simple, tyranny..
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