?There are only three stories in the Philippines, as far as we?re concerned,? said the foreign journalist in his cups at a seedy Manila bar now long closed, speaking for the international media. ?One, the government is overthrown. Two, hundreds or thousands die in natural or man-made disasters, like volcano eruptions, earthquakes or ferryboat sinkings. And three, foreigners are kidnapped for ransom in Mindanao.?

The foreigner likes to think of himself as an ?old Manila hand,? even if his local counterparts derisively call him a ?parachute journalist??someone who arrives the airport, parks his grungy self at a hotel coffee shop and suddenly becomes an expert on the Philippines. He may be back in town soon, especially if his ever-changing bosses decide that the kidnapping of two foreigners working for the Red Cross in Jolo yesterday deserves a minute or so of network airtime or a short page one story (the parachutist does both television and print).

And when he starts filing his stories as someone?s ?man in Manila,? the parachutist will reinforce the reputation of this country in the Western media as a three-story town. ?Hey, man,? he tells the locals, who protest that there?s actually more to this country than the regular stuff he comes here for and reports about. ?I don?t do the assignments. I just get them what they want and get the hell out.?

But doesn?t anything else interest him when he?s here? ?Sure,? he says. ?But they don?t pay me to write about beer and girlie bars, now, do they??

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International experts of a more legitimate kind arrived in the Philippines recently to help the authorities study the reemergence of the killer Ebola Reston virus in some swine in Bulacan and Pangasinan. The 10-day investigation conducted by scientists from the World Health Organization, the Office International des Epizooties and the Food and Agriculture Organization came upon the request of Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who wanted to establish national surveillance, diagnostics and disease prevention programs put in place.

Both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health won praise from international experts and local hog-raising industry leaders for spearheading government action to prevent the spread of the virus last month. Yap himself ordered a quarantine of infected farms and monitoring of slaughtered pork all over the country.

The strict measures included the suspension of what was supposed to be the first-ever export of Philippine pork to Singapore. In the meantime, Yap?s department, through the Bureau of Animal Industry, ordered the testing of up to 10,000 heads of swine for the Ebola virus to determine the origin of the infection, as well as the drafting of nationwide guidelines to stop its spread.

Yap?s swift action to contain the virus after its detection late last year burnished his reputation as one of the hardest working members of the Arroyo Cabinet. As one newspaper reported, stakeholders in both the health sector and the animal industry said Yap?s department?s actions to stop the spread of the reemerging virus ?has, thus far, proved unassailable? and has succeeded ?in calming public fears? about an outbreak of disease.

By yearend, the National Hog Federation Inc. said the swine-raising industry ?recognizes what [Yap] did well in terms of disease control this year and we hope you continue what you are doing in 2009.?

Earlier, the young Agriculture secretary scored points for the government by backing the private-sector campaign to promote organic agriculture among small farmers. Both former Senator Helena Benitez of the La Liga Policy Institute and Efren Moncupa of the Malasimbu Farmers? Cooperative praised Yap?s efforts to promote sustainable and organic agriculture, which is part of President Arroyo?s centerpiece FIELDS agriculture program.

The two organizations, which are working to promote organic agriculture, recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Yap?s department for the implementation of the GO Organic campaign, which seeks to encourage small farmers to use non-chemical methods to plant and maintain crops.

The Agriculture Department has also forged partnerships with other groups like the Federation of Free Farmers to push for the use of organic farm inputs and to lessen dependence on imported and potentially hazardous petrochemical-based fertilizers and other farm inputs. The department is also extending its organic fertilizer support program to rice farmers in 48 provinces where fields are mostly rain-fed and the average crop yield is below the national average.

Fields, which stands for Fertilizers, Infrastructure, Education, Loans, Dryers and Seeds, was born out of the recent rice crisis and which also seeks to put into effect a five-year rice sufficiency program for the Philippines. With the help of the National Food Authority, Yap quickly acted on the President?s orders to tame runaway retail prices of the staple in the middle of last year, especially during the lean months from July to September.

The DA and the NFA averted the worsening rice supply crisis through a policy of aggressive procurement and distribution, going after hoarders and flooding the market with cheap rice stocks. Using funds from the ?Katas ng VAT? program, the government was able to stablilize rice prices to benefit poor families who rely on the staple for sustenance.

Under Yap, the DA has proven itself to be up to the challenges faced by the agricultural sector. Let?s see if the new year will be better for the farmers and the consumers who depend on quick and decisive government action for safe, affordable and readily available food.