URBAN AGRICULTURE: FARMING IN THE CITIES

URBAN AGRICULTURE: FARMING IN THE CITIES

By Henrylito D. Tacio

FARMING is always associated with rural areas, rivers and mountains. Unknowingly, farming can also be done right in the city. Experts call this practice as urban agriculture.

"Urban agriculture refers not merely to the growing of food crops and fruit trees but that it also encompasses the raising of animals, poultry, fish, bees, rabbits, guinea pigs, or other livestock considered edible locally," explains Dr. Irene Tinker, an American professor in the department of city and regional planning at the University of California.

In recent years, urban agriculture has been creating a big impact in some thickly-populated areas. In the 1990s, the Beijing government decided that urban agriculture was an important way to meet the city's food needs. Today, farming in, around, and near Beijing not only provides residents with safer, healthier food, it also keeps farmers in business.

"Between 1995 and 2003, the income for farmers living just outside of Beijing doubled," wrote Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg in their collaborative report published in the 'State of the World 2007' of Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute.

In Vancouver, Canada, 44 percent of the people grow vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, or herbs in their yards, on their balconies, or in one of the 17 community gardens located on city property. "There, farming the city is part of a much larger movement that includes restaurants buying from local farms, and buying clubs in which neighbors subscribe to weekly deliveries of produce," noted Halweil and Nierenberg.

In Thailand, 60 percent of the land is under cultivation in greater Bangkok. In Russia, 72 percent of all urban families are engaged in raising food, mostly part-time. In the United States, the number of farmers' markets selling locally-grown produce increased by 40 percent from 1994 to 1996.

In Guangzhou, China, up to nine crops are grown yearly on any single field. In Hong Kong, six crops of cabbage a year are not uncommon. Urban farming supplies Israel with 95 percent of its food needs. The city of Cairo is host to some 80,000 livestock.

In the Philippines, a presidential decree obliged owners, or entitled others with owners' permission, to cultivate unused private lands and some public lands adjoining streets or highways in Metro Manila. In Davao City, the agriculturist's office is promoting the "Gulayan sa Barangay." This program pushes for the growth and propagation of organically-grown vegetables.

The United Nations Development Program estimates that 800 million people are involved in urban farming around the world, with the majority in Asian cities. Of these, 200 million produce food primarily for the market, but the great majority raise food for their own families.

In a survey conducted for the United Nations, cities worldwide already produce about one third of the food consumed by their residents on average. This percentage is "likely to grow in coming decades, given that the need for urban agriculture could be greater now than ever before," Halweil and Nierenberg wrote.

Urban agriculture is nothing new. The hanging gardens in Babylon, for instance, were an example of urban agriculture, while residents of the first cities of ancient Iran, Syria, and Iraq produced vegetables in home gardens.

Four thousand years ago in the pre-Olmec Valley of Mexico, small towns on stone-faced terraces, farmed vegetables and raised dogs and turkeys. The Aztec state was partly dependent on food production within and fringing the metropolis of Teotihuacán and the capital city of Tenochtitlan.

"In ancient times, the cost of transport was much greater," explains Jac Smit, head of the New York-based Urban Agriculture Network, "so the impetus for growing food in cities was greater."

The dearth of available food products during World War II in Europe saw a resurgence of small-scale food production in European cities which had given themselves over to industrialization. And the recent worldwide swell in urban agriculture is theorized to be related to the increase in the urban poor population which is predicted to grow along with the general growth in urban density.

"Over 60 million people – roughly the population of France – are now added to the planet's burgeoning cities and suburbs each year, mostly in low-income urban settlements in developing countries," noted the 'State of the World 2007.'

The number of hungry people living in cities is growing at alarming rate, according to a recent report released by the UN Food and Agriculture. While malnutrition in rural areas still a bigger problem in terms of actual numbers of people – of the 852 million people worldwide who are undernourished, 75 percent live in rural areas – urban residents, particularly children, also suffer from food shortages as well as micronutrient deficiencies.

"Urban agriculture can be one of the most important factors in improving childhood nutrition, by increasing both access to food and nutrition," Halweil and Nierenberg noted in their report.

Another advantage: farms in the city can often supply markets on a more regular basis than distant rural farms can, particularly when refrigeration is scarce or during a rainy season when roads are bad.

Beyond providing jobs and good nutrition, urban farming can have a whole range of other health benefits. Research has connected gardening to reducing risks of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and occupational injuries. For urban folks especially, working with plants and being in the outdoors can both prevent illness and help with healing.

Wayne Roberts of the Toronto Food Policy Council sees urban agriculture as the "new frontier in public health," benefiting health twice: first, by supplying urbanites with more foods and, second, by affording them the exercise involved in raising food.

Another benefit of urban agriculture: erosion and landslide prevention. Take the case of San Salvador, El Salvador. One of the few remaining forested areas around the rapidly growing city is a 120-hectare parcel called 'El Espino.' Known as the "lungs" of the city, it provides fresh air and groundwater replenishment for the city's water supply.

According to records, 'El Espino' is managed by a cooperative of coffee growers who tend their bushes in the forest's understory. 'El Espino' has more than 50 species of trees and shrubs, which shelter 70 species of birds, including some not found elsewhere.

For cities confronted with growing waste disposal, the strongest environmental argument for local farming is the opportunity to reuse urban organic waste that would otherwise end up in distant, swollen landfills.

Despite all that farming can do for the city landscape and the urban soul, politicians, businesses, and planners continue to regard food as a "rural issue" that does not demand the same attention as housing, crime, or transportation.

In many cities around the world, farming is even outlawed. "Policymakers would be wise to realize the nutritional, social, ecological, and economic benefits of reversing this stubborn mindset and putting programs in place to encourage cities to feed themselves," Halweil and Nierenberg suggested.

"Farming in the city is not a straightforward business," admits Luc J.A. Mougeot, senior program specialist of the International Development Research Center in Ottawa, Canada. "Urban agriculture requires much finer technological and organizational precision than rural agriculture because it must be more intensive, more tolerant of environmental stress, more responsive to market behavior, and more carefully monitored to protect public health." -- ###

MEET THE LUSCIOUS LANZONES

By Henrylito D. Tacio

Lance is an American from Hawaii who is married to a Filipina. The couple is blessed with three two daughters and one son. When his wife was pregnant with their second child, she craved for lanzones but Lance didn't know what it was so he bought her a lychee. She complained that it was not the kind of fruit she wanted.

Last year, the family finally visited the Philippines. While in the country, Lance saw a vendor selling what he thought was grapes. He bought some and tasted it. It was only later that he knew it was lanzones. His comment: "Very good. Now, I can say why my wife could tell the difference."

In the Philippines, the harvest of lanzones is celebrated every year in October with a weekend of street dancing, parade and pageants in the town of Mambajao. Like most festivals, the celebration includes an exhibit of agri-cottage industry products, barangay beautification, indigenous sports, tableau of local culture, grand parade of the lanzones which is the golden and extra sweet fruit found in the entire province of Camiguin.

Lanzones is grown throughout the entire Southeast Asia, ranging from Malaysia (where it is known as langsat) to Vietnam (lon bon and bon bon). It is also grown in India and Thailand (called langsad or longkong). Outside the region, it has also been successfully transplanted and introduced to Hawaii and Surinam.

In the Philippines, where it is locally referred to as the lanzones, the plant is grown mostly on the northern island of Luzon due to the species' narrow range of conditions favorable to its survival. It is also found in abundance on Northern Mindanao particularly in places as Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Camiguin, Cotabato, and Davao del Sur. However, over 75% of all lanzones is grown in Sulu province.

Lanzones fruits are ovoid, roundish orbs around five centimeters in diameter, usually found in clusters of two to thirty fruits. Each round fruit is covered by yellowish, thick, leathery skin. Underneath the skin, the fruit is divided into five or six slices of translucent, juicy flesh. The flesh is slightly acidic in taste, although ripe fruits are sweeter. Green, seeds are present in around half of the segments, usually taking up a small portion of the segment although some seeds take up the entire segment's volume. In contrast with the sweet-sour flavor of the fruit's flesh, the seeds are extremely bitter. The sweet juicy flesh contains sucrose, saccharose, fructose and glucose.

The fruit's flavor and sweetness is so unique that it attracts bats. In Indonesia, growers wrap pungent bundles of shrimp paste and hang them on the trees to distract or repel the bats. In Paete, Laguna, people hang kerosene lamps on the trees to do the same task. The resulting view of hundreds of hanging kerosene lamps on a hillside is said to be spectacular.

The fruit of lanzones is eaten fresh. However, there is a sap to the fruit's skin that is extremely sticky and fairly gross on the tongue – kind of like spreading a faster drying glue on your tongue. To be free from that sap, don't break the skin of the fruit using your finger but just hold it and press between your thumbs and fingers snugly to break open. Then, enjoy eating the fruit.

There are several varieties of lanzones but the three most common grown are "Paete," "Camiguin," and "Jolo" cultivars. "Paete" is grown in Paete, Laguna and its surrounding towns. The Mindanao variety is grown in the southern part of the country, the "Duku" variety is found in limited numbers in Laguna and Oriental Mindoro.

In Southern Tagalog, lanzones is available from August to October and in Mindanao, peak season occurs from July to November. Secondary fruits may occur during January to April. In Thailand and Malaysia, the fruit is available from August to October.

The lanzones seed and rind is rich in tannin and contain chemical substances that are medicinally and industrially useful. The fresh peeling yielded a volatile oil, a resin, and some reducing acids. The resin is believed to be nontoxic and protective to the stomach against alcohol.

The decoction of bark and leaves is used for dysentery. The powdered bark is used to treat scorpion stings. The bark resin can be used for swellings, and is considered as an antispasmodic. Tincture prepared from the dried rind used for diarrhea. The dried fruit skins when burned emit an aromatic smell which repels mosquitoes. It also makes a pleasant room inhalant.

These days, however, the future of lanzones is not bright. Last year, "mussel scale insects have been ravaging lanzones trees in North Cotabato, affecting at least three towns and hundreds of small growers with losses reaching P5 million already," reported a local daily.

During the Kadayawan Festival in Davao last September, some people noticed the absence of lanzones, considered to be one of the major fruits of the city. Starting last year, lanzones production in Davao started to drop off severely that the City Agriculture Office has admitted that the situation has now reached the "really alarming level."

City agriculturist Rocelio Tabay said the lanzones farms in Davao City have been badly devastated by the infestation of scale insect. The environmental non-government organization Interface Development Interventions Incorporated has estimated the damage to the production loss to reach P6 million based on a survey conducted with affected lanzones farmers from the villages of Tawan-Tawan in Baguio District and Subasta in Calinan District.

Mussel scale insects (known in the science world as Lepidosaphes ulmi) attack the leaves of lanzones, eventually rendering the fruit with a sour taste. "Scale insects suck the sap of the leaves, causing it to defoliate, this impairs plant growth and causes loss of vigor and underdevelopment of fruits as it can no longer take nutrients from the leaves," explained Renato Reloba, chief of the regional crop protection center of the Department of Agriculture.

The Kendall Bioresearch Services said mussel scale insects "attack many deciduous trees and shrubs, including apples and other fruit and ornamental trees. Infestations are most severe on older trees and may impair plant growth and vigor. Eggs are laid under the scales in late summer."

Farmers can easily detect infestations as leaves of the tree turn reddish and defoliating. It can also be detected by placing a transparent tape on the leaves, as the tape traps insects.

Guillermo Millomeda, North Cotabato Integrated Pest Management officer-in-charge, urged fruit growers to refrain from using chemicals and suggested that infected branches should be cut to stop the spread of the insects.

Pepito Leysa, crop protection chief of Department of Agriculture Central Mindanao, advised lanzones growers to spray with pesticides the infected trees only if infestation is already severe.

Mussel scale insects have been earlier discovered in late 2004 in Banga and Tupi towns in South Cotabato and in Malungon and Maitum in Sarangani province. At that time, entomologists from the Bureau of Plant Industry found that an orange-colored (Cocconellid) beetle can contain the pests. Authorities are now propagating the beetles in a laboratory in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat.

ON BECOMING A WRITER

ON BECOMING A WRITER
by HENRY TACIO

ALMOST always, when I meet people and they know that I am a
journalist, they usually asked the stale (to me) but important (to
them) question: "So, how did you become a writer?"

I don't want to become a broken record and have to explain again and
again. Well, when I was in high school, I discovered that I have this
knack for writing. Of course, anyone who can write is considered a
writer. But writing well is different.

Every time our English teacher gave us something to write for our
formal theme, I wrote it differently. I didn't know why then but I
want to be unique. Upon reading them, my classmates would tell me
that my writings were incorrect since they were very dissimilar to the
examples our teacher had given us.

When our teacher learned about it, she explained to our class. "His
writing is very different from the rest of you because he is writing
in his own style," she said. She then lectured on what style means.

However, my biggest "break" was when the same teacher asked me to
write an essay which would be submitted to a regional essay writing
contest. "Why me?" I scrupled. "I am still a junior student and I am
sure there are good contenders from the senior level."

But my teacher was adamant; she had already made up her mind: me or no
one else. After too much coaxing, I finally relented. Although I
emerged a loser in the contest (my very first!), it inspired me to
become a writer. I did it by honing my skill.

Not contented, I enrolled in a correspondence school. This was when I
was in college. I started writing for a national magazine.
Fortunately, my short piece was accepted. When it came out, my mother
bought several copies. As for myself, I couldn't believed saying my
name printed in a national publication.

Although I received several rejection slips after that, I never
thought of stopping what I had already started. Just like a wounded
soldier, the more I write articles and features. Until I found the
"gold" at the end of rainbow – this was when I started writing for the
Ramon Magsaysay awarded Press Foundation of Asia.

So much for that. A reporter, trying to track down the wellspring of
the creative process, asked Edna Ferber on why she writes. Her reply
was once startling and satisfying: "Because it is less agonizing to
write than not to write."

"The only important thing a writer needs is a subject," Brooks
Atkinson said. "What the reader hungers after is not accomplished
craftsmanship nor even correct grammar but a frank report of the
things a writer has done, seen, and thought. None of these can be
learned in the library or classroom. They have to be learned in the
unsheltered world of living where me get slivers of the truth beaten
into their heads."

"Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will
appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all,
accurately so they will be guided by its light," advises Joseph
Pulitzer.

Barbara W. Tuchman has the same recommendation: "No writing comes
alive unless the writer sees across his desk a reader, and searches
constantly for the word or phrase which will carry the image he wants
the reader to see, and arouse the emotion he wants him to feel.
Without consciousness of a live reader, what a man writes will die on
his page."

When writing, never be contented of what you have written. Read it
again and again. Revise while reading. And then revise again.
Margery Allingham admitted that she writes every paragraph four times:
"Once to get my meaning down, once to put in anything I have left out,
once to take out anything that seems unnecessary, and once to make the
whole thing sound as if I have only just thought of it."

According to Frank E. McElroy, to write what you want to say in a way
that it can be understood by other people is not easy. "It takes real
effort," he said. "Do your writing in four bite-size portions. Doing
one of these at a time makes your writing easier and your results more
effective."

McElroy suggests four steps: (1) Define your purpose and learn your
subject; (2) Organize your material in the light of your readers'
abilities and interests; (3) Write to best express yourself (and your
ideas); and (4) Edit and polish your writing so that it is easy to
read, is easy to understand, and is good English.

The Writer's Digest School in Cincinnati, Ohio share the following 20
rules for good writing: Prefer the plain word to the fancy, the
familiar word to the unfamiliar, nouns and verbs to adjectives and
adverbs. Better still prefer picture nouns and action verbs. Prefer
the simple sentence to the complicated.

Never us a long word when a short one will do as well. Master the
simple declarative sentence. Put the words you want to emphasize at
the beginning or end of your sentence. Use the active voice. Put
statements in a positive form. Vary your sentence length.

Use short paragraphs; vary the length of the paragraph.

Cut needles words, sentences, and paragraphs. Use plain,
conversational language. Write like you talk. Avoid imitation; write
in your natural style. Write clearly. Avoid gobbledygook and jargon.
Write to be understood, not to impress. Communicate with
understanding. Revise and rewrite. Improvement is always possible.

Just a reminder, though: "Being a writer is a solitary vocation.
Occasionally, letters or phone calls provide evidence that someone out
there is reacting – usually in vehement disagreement. But it is
exceeding difficult for a writer who does not also teach to experience
a continuum of face-to-face challenge and response to his ideas. You
shoot an arrow and most of the time you have no way of knowing what
impact it had, if any."

E. W. Martin adds: "Writing is a lonely profession. It always has
been; it always must be. The author may be a philosopher, poet,
historian, biographer, essayist, or novelist, but his ideas, his
vision, have to be communicated in loneliness. Only by a dredging of
his own consciousness can he get at the kind of power with which to
remake an experience or to reformulate a concept and shed light that
has not been shed before on conditions, ideas, and situations."

Henry Tacio

Sun.Star man Henry Tacio goes global
By Antonio M. Ajero

HENRYLITO D. TACIO, the multi-awarded mainstay of Sun.Star Davao, seems unstoppable in his sally as an international writer.

One proof of this is Henry's feature story on the importance of sleep published in the November issue of Readers Digest, particularly in the Indian and Asian edition.

This particular article is Henry's 19th in the widely circulated monthly magazine since his first published feature on dengue sometime in 2003.

This means that an average of five of Readers Digest's 12 editions in one year carry Henrylito's contributed articles, a record batting average no other Filipino RD contributor can lay claim on.

But who is this humble guy literally from the boondocks of Bansalan, Davao del Sur? How did he start writing and become one of the most bemedalled Filipino journalists of this generation?

A feature article on Henrylito written by his own sister, Marilou D. Tacio, could provide an insight into this highly prolific but very humble writer who once bested such biggies in Philippine journalism as columnist Conrad de Quiros of the Inquirer and TV broadcaster Ces Drilon of ABS-CBN in the contest of the "Journalist of the Year" search conducted by the Rotary Club of Manila.

In that search, de Quiros and Drilon were awarded P100,000 each plus trophy, but Henry got P200,000. (Edith Regalado, a former reporter of Sun.Star Davao, also got P50,000 for being the best in Mindanao).

Here are excerpts from Marilou's feature article on Henry:

"I have been following his environmental journalism for several years, and have been impressed by his prolific output, his wide range of reading, and his concern for his community and country. When other journalists have chosen to move to Manila to take advantage of the resources in the big city, he has opted to stay in Mindanao and practice his profession there.

"From his outposts, he has managed through his own resourcefulness to gain access to a broad storehouse of information, which is evident in whatever he writes. He tackles a wide assortment of topics, providing basic information about a wealth of relevant issues and problems." So writes award-wining television personality Howie Severino of GMA's (now ABS-CBN's) "The Probe Team" of my brother, Henrylito Tacio.

Howie is not alone in his observation. National scientist Dr. Benito Vergara has this comment: "I am impressed by the clarity and impartiality of Mr. Henrylito D. Tacio's articles. There are very few science writers in the Philippines and I know most of them personally. The dedication of Mr. Tacio to science reporting where others perceive it as a "non-glamorous" subject is worthy of praise."

Don Rutledge, a multi-awarded American photojournalist, echoes the same view: "I have been deeply impressed by Mr. Henrylito D. Tacio's journalistic ability to take vital subjects and discuss them through his writing ability. A most recent article is the one he did on cancer. He takes the subject, makes a solid study of it, and gives us valuable details what we need to know. Seem that he does this in all of his writings rather than just a few situations. He is a journalist far beyond the normal."

Manoy Henry, as we call him, is the eldest son of Generoso Tacio and the former Saturnina dela Rita. He was born and grew up in Bansalan. He spent his elementary years in Villa-Doneza Elementary School. He attended the Southern Mindanao Academy (now known as South Philippine Adventist College) for his high school.

He finished his A.B. Economics from the University of Mindanao in Davao City and pursued his A.B. English at the University of Mindanao Bansalan College.

He started his writing career when he was still in high school. His teachers were impressed by the way he wrote his formal themes.

During his college days, he started writing for Tagalog comics and finally contributed an article - "What Children Say About Doctors" - which was accepted by Mod magazine. It was the start.

Years later, his byline started appearing in both national newspapers (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Today, Manila Times, Manila Chronicle, Malaya, and Manila Bulletin) and international dailies (Bangkok Post, for one) when he was accepted as one of the correspondents of the Manila-based Press Foundation of Asia, which released weekly dispatches called DEPTHnews.

In 1994, he started collecting journalism awards. First, it was the Binhi Award from the Philippine Agricultural Journalists, Inc. Then came the Science and Technology Journalism Award from the Philippine Press Institute.

In 1999, he was elevated to the Hall of Fame for winning five science awards, including two top prizes. Also, in 1999, the Rotary Club of Manila named him as "Journalist of the Year" over TV broadcast journalist Ces Drillon, the Siyasat Team (radio broadcast journalist of DWIZ), and print journalist Conrado de Quiros.

As a journalist, Manoy Henry has traveled abroad extensively. He has attended international conferences in Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Durban, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia; and Singapore.

One distinction about Manoy Henry is that he is one of the two Filipino journalists who write for the Asian and Indian editions of the widely circulated Reader's Digest. In addition, he is the only Filipino author who writes for the Mental Floss, a magazine published and circulated in the United States.

Unknown to many, he is the only Filipino author to have contributed to the 2001 State of the World Population published by the United Nations Population Fund. Also, he is the only Filipino journalist to have co-authored a paper (with American award-winning environmental journalist Don Hinrichsen) on water and population for the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars. The latter was written when he went to New York and in 2000 and was presented in Washington, D.C. in 2002.

Currently, he is the administrative assistant of the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center. He also serves as consultant and technical editor of the book, "In Search of Excellence: Exemplary Forest Management in Asia-Pacific Region," which was published by the regional office of UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok, Thailand.

But with all these travels, awards, and recognition, Manoy Henry is still the same person most people know. As Gregory Ira, director of the office of environmental education at the Florida Department of Environment Protection, who has known Henry before he is making waves as a journalist, puts it: "Mr. Henrylito Tacio is an accomplished and prolific writer who has demonstrated his commitment to rural development, environmental science, and public health. He possesses the character traits that are built over a lifetime. He is an honest, fair, and responsible individual."

In an age where public relations and "spin" tend to define a person, Mr. Tacio stands out for his authenticity and humility."

What Others Say About Him:

"I first heard of Mr. Tacio a couple of years ago when he was a correspondent of DEPTHnews, the development news and features service of the Press Foundation of Asia (PFA). PFA is the organization of newspaper publishers and editors in Asia and the Pacific and is based in Manila.

I was the manager of its training projects. The DEPTHnews editors were very pleased with Mr. Tacio's work because he is prolific and writes on a wide range of subjects, which are all relevant and of current interest. His stories are well-researched, and his writing is clear and engaging - all qualities which have won for him awards, prizes and citations that I have been able to keep track of, particularly in the fields of health, science, and agriculture and environment reporting. As a person, Mr. Tacio is likeable: he is soft-spoken and unassuming and has remained humble and eager to learn despite al his accomplishments and the recognition he has earned." -- Mr. Vicente G. Tirol, former publisher of Pinoy Times

"Henrylito D. Tacio is one of the Philippines' foremost journalists writing on environment and development issues." -- Don Hinrichsen, former head of information division of the UN Population Fund

"I appreciate his continuing efforts to write factually and objectively about forestry and the environment. His efforts are reflected well in the articles he writes." -- Dr. Patrick Durst, regional forestry officer, Food and Agriculture Organization, Bangkok, Thailand

"The writings of Mr. Henrylito D. Tacio exude with professionalism, especially in the way he handles correspondences and news articles. He balances the thought of his words, erasing all the biases that could otherwise stain the gist of information. He has that positive propensity to use words or phrases that everybody will not find hard to grasp. But most of all, he does serious research on the topics and objects of his interest - the trait that separates Henry from many of his peers." -- Dr. Miguel D. Fortes, 1996 winner of the International Biwako Prize for Ecology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

"Henrylito Tacio is a prolific, informed and highly professional writer on the important environmental issues of our times. Unusually for this complex topic, his journalism spans the issues of science and technology as well as those relating to agriculture, health and the environment." --John Rowley, editor-in-chief of London's People and the Planet

"Heherson Alvarez and I both appreciate greatly his writing talent especially the depth of his research and his commitment to protect the environment." -- Mrs. Cecile-Guidote Alvarez, former Ramon Magsaysay Awardee

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER?

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER?

"Work every day. No matter what has happened the day or night before,
get up and bite on the nail." That statement comes from the pen of
one of America's most celebrated authors, Ernest Hemingway.

Hemingway is one of my favorite authors. And although I never read
his books when I was growing up, I came to "know" him only after I saw
the film adaptation of his book, The Old Man and the Sea. Forget the
fact that he committed suicide at the height of his career, but his
timely tips about writing are still being quoted just like his novels
which are still being read all over the world.

A person who does not work every day is dead. You have to do
something in order for you to live – even breathing and eating are
works. And thinking and writing, too. That's why I write every day.

Writing is just a like a hobby to me. And to think of, it's part of
my job. Imagine, doing your hobby every day and still being paid for
doing so. What a privilege, indeed. I am sure there are many people
who are working but don't like what they are doing. Too bad!

Anyone who knows how to write can be called a writer. But the
difference between those who just write for the sake of writing and
those who do living on writing is writing well. Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow once said, "The talent of success is nothing more than
doing what you can do well and doing well whatever you do."

In writing well, you have to consider your grammar (you must know when
to use "is" and "are," the difference between "me" and "mine," etc.),
your vocabulary (appease, soothe, mollify, placate, and pacify all
mean the same thing), and the ideas you expound. Words are your tool
and you must have lots of them. "What's this business of being a
writer?" Irving Thalberg asked. "It's just putting one word after
another."

But you have to put those words in a perfect manner that could be
understood by anyone who reads it. "A perfectly healthy sentence, it
is true, is extremely rare," Henry David Thoreau said. "For the most
part we miss the hue and fragrance of the thought; as if we could be
satisfied with the dews of the morning or evening without their
colors, or the heavens without their azure."

I started writing well when I was in high school. My English teacher
observed that those I wrote for our formal themes were different from
those written by my classmates. "You had a style of your own," she
told me. She impelled me to write more -- on various subject matters.

When I watched Finding Forrester a couple of years back, I was
reminded of what I went through. The words of Sean Connery's
character came into my mind: "Write your first draft with your heart.
Re-write with your head."

But it was not until I was in college that I started writing for
magazines and newspapers. My very first national article was
published in a weekly magazine. It was a short piece on what children
say about doctors.

From that, I started writing for other publications as a freelancer.
At first, I wrote lifestyle features and when I joined a
non-government organization as its staff writer, I started writing
about agricultural stories. After attending a workshop convened by
Philippine Press Institute, I found my niche: science reporting.

It was also at time when I wrote for Ang Peryodiko Dabaw (which later
became Sun.Star Davao). I also started contributing for Press
Foundation of Asia, with Paul Icamina and Erlinda Bolido as my science
editors.

And before I knew it, I was winning one journalism awards after
another. In 1999, the Philippine Press Institute elevated me the hall
of fame in science reporting, the first and only Filipino journalist
to accomplish the feat. That year also, the Rotary Club of Manila had
chosen me as Journalist of the Year. Now, I write for the Asian
edition of Reader's Digest and other national and internal
publications.

Through these years, what have I learned as a writer? First and
foremost, don't wait for inspiration to write. Just write whatever
comes into your mind – as long as you know what you are writing.
Raymond Chandler suggests, "The faster I write the better my output.
If I'm going slower, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words
instead of being pulled by them."

Don't forget to read. When I go to other countries, I usually buy
books, magazines and other publications. "Read, read, read," urges
William Faulkner. "Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad,
and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an
apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then
write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of
the window."

There is nothing new under the heat of the sun, the Ecclesiastes
writer said. Everything is already written. All you have to do is
make the subject fresh. "If you steal from one author, it's
plagiarism; if you steal from many, its research," observed Wilson
Mizner. Award-winning author James Michener echoed the same sentiment
when he said, "I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent
rewriter."

Now, here are some great rules of writing from William Safire. "Do
not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences
with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on
rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading
and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession
euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a
linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but
not least, avoid clichés like the plague."

Now, why I like to write? As Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, Richeliue,
II puts it, "The pen is mightier than the sword."