Why I do it

A travelling companion once asked me why I’ve spent at least 5 months of 2014 travelling to 5 provinces as a seminar moderator and volunteer “Brand Ambassador” of BMeg Feeds. Given that we do the work rain or shine, mostly under blistering heat of tin roofed basketball courts, the series of events have truly been punishing. Often it requires being in vans anywhere from 6 to 12 hours total travelling time, such as the last two events where we had to go by land to Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya and this weekend flying to Tuguegarao, then driving all the way to La-Lo and Sta. Ana, Cagayan.

Either my friend never listened to my reasons before, or simply expected another answer, but the question would often pop up until recently when he decided to do a good deed for a family by buying several bags of feeds for their “alaga.” It seems that my friend was under the impression that feeds were cheap, and when it came time to pay, he understandably had a bit of a surprise at the prices. He slowly began to appreciate why I’m passionate about sharing my discoveries and experiences in backyard hog raising.

Whether it’s a hobby or a business, backyard hog raising demands a lot of time, effort as well as some capital that for some people amounts to their hard earned savings or borrowed money from a relative or money lender or sent by an OFW abroad. What some of us spend in a month eating in restaurants is equivalent to the capital of small backyard hog raisers, and the reason I give it all is because “knowledge” or practical know-how given for free can make the difference between profit, breaking even or total loss.

Whenever the prices of chicken and pork go up, many people in media as well as consumers quickly make a political issue of price increases. But here is what they don’t know: 60% of the pork reaching public markets come from backyard farmers many of whom rely on traditional methods, old wives tales and are at the mercy of traders who haggle them to a loss.

Consider the fact that a pig is pregnant for nearly 3.5 months; from birth the pig takes 4 to 5 months before being sold for slaughter, giving us an 8 months total period to breed and raise one pig. The national average for litter size is 10 piglets while the average real profit is P4,000. At P40,000 divided by 8 gives the farmer or housewife P5,000 a month IF all is well. But compared to the monthly minimum wage in Metro Manila of P13,000/ 500x26 days, the farmer or housewife is not even making half of minimum wage even in most regions.

The only way to equalize matters is to equip people with knowledge on how to do things right as well as bringing in technical experts such as veterinarians, technicians, trainers as well as the dealers or distributors, in order to put a face to the service and the product. By bringing them to seminar venues, introducing them to people and products we draw out the usually reserve, shy and often intimidated provincial people. By educating them through powerpoints, Q&As or Question and Answer sessions we empower them and make them realize that their concerns are valid and that they matter.

They say those who have the least in life must have more in law. Most poor people have no use for the law which is why they say “Ipapa sa Diyos ko na lang.” Those who have the least in life should have more knowledge that will give them more in life. This is why I do it.

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In their defense it’s not the LTO’s fault.

For any normal human being, what we dislike the most is to be blamed for something not our fault or have no control over. So when I read that the LTO has received the most number of complaints according to a Civil Service Commission report, I can’t help but stand in defense of the LTO. Yes the LTO has it’s shortcomings but more often than not the problems that people encounter at the LTO are a result of policies and incompetence of higher officials at the Department Of Transportation and Communications.

Most of the complaints about the LTO have generally been about failure to issue stickers, car plates, and lack of personnel. All those problems are beyond the powers of an implementing agency such as the LTO. Their job is to do or to implement things. They have no power or control regarding the biddings that have been centralized at the DOTC thanks to the brilliant workings of Mar Roxas and his minions. When investors complain about LTO officers, they immediately find themselves reassigned to hardship posts or freeze-dried in places with no work to do.

In reality, almost all my friends who have had transactions at malls and districts of the LTO have praised the agency for license and registration work done in 30 minutes on the average.

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Fair is fair. Congratulations to Secretary Babes Singson and the DPWH for completing the major repair work on the southbound ramp of the Magallanes interchange. I actually checked it out before and after the repair work and the job well done makes a big difference.

Having said that may we ask Secretary Singson to inspect the repair work done on C-5 in front of SM Aura. I don’t know why, but it’s the second time DPWH repair crew created a speed trap by having incompatible grade levels that force motorists to slow down or step on their brakes, creating traffic or causing near hits. While the Magallanes project was obviously supervised, the C-5 patch in front of SM Aura is a perfect example of an engineer saying “puede na.”

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