WDD's Wish List For PH Agriculture. FAH's Wish List On Miss Universe 2018

I did not plan it this way, to end 2018 with a wish being fulfilled, but it's happening right now. And I did not call it wish fulfilment until mid-morning today, Friday, 21 December 2018, when I read William Dollente Dar's latest Manila Times column, Part 1 of his "My Wish List For 2019" (manilatimes.net). Birds of a feather wish together?

I have 10 in my wish list, which I will discuss after this; Mr Dar has the following, as far as I can pick them up; here I will call them William Dar's Higher Wishes:

(1) Higher number of youth attracted to agriculture

Mr Dar notes that House Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin has filed House Bill 3354, the proposed "Entrepreneurial Agricultural Education Act" that "seeks to develop the manpower requirements for farming and create agripreneurs, starting at the post-secondary level." We have to start them young in agriculture too.

(2) Higher growth rate in agriculture

For Agriculture, Mr Dar notes what he calls the "inconsistent" growth rates of 0.11% in 2015, 1.41% in 2016, 3.95% in 2017, and for this year: 1.47% 1st quarter, 0.07% 2nd quarter, and 0.83% 3rd quarter. When he was Secretary of Agriculture, PH achieved, in the words of Benjamin E Diokno, "a stunning 9.6%, the highest growth rate in the post-EDSA period" (10 June 2015, "Agriculture Has Been Left Behind," BusinessWorld, bworldonline.com). You better believe it!

(3) Higher partnership between government and private sector

Mr Dar says, "I also wish that the private sector increase its participation and synergize its efforts with government to achieve a shared vision for a modernized and industrialized Philippine agriculture."

The above image is half the cover of my book titled, "Team ICRISAT Champions The Poor." The year 2007; Mr Dar was then on his 8th year as Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, ICRISAT, based in India. For 15 years, he was Outstanding as ICRISAT head, so I know:

If you invite him to government, he will deliver!

How about me? My wish for 2018 is short: Continuing Creativity. To fulfill this year's promise, I will deliver:

Frank A Hilario's Higher Wish List After Miss Universe 2018.

It's a series of short essays on Catriona Gray's becoming the queen of the world this year.

Note that, as of today, several articles have been written on her following TIME's formula List of X:

"5 Shades Of Gray"
"5 Things To Know About Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray"
"7 Reasons Why Catriona Gray Conquered The Universe"
"7 Things To Know About Catriona Gray, Miss Universe 2018"
"8 Facts About Catriona Gray: Get To Know Our New Miss Universe"
"10 Things You Didn't Know About Catriona Gray"

All boring!

I have so far written 6 essays (you can check out my blog here: QuickBytes). I will write 10 in all, to dramatize how one creative mind can actually extract 10 stories from "only one story"!

Can you believe I'm 78? If I can do it, you can do it!517