"We are organic. Whatever we do touches the world."

MANILA – Are we afraid of organics, or we just don´t care?! Organic and wellness come together, or should. I don´t know why, but nobody has ever come up with a regular magazine on organic Philippines. Or a dedicated website. Until now.

You are looking at the logo of a new publication; we call it Organic World Philippines. The magazine's logo is actually making this statement to everyone:

We are organic.
Whatever we do touches the world.

"We are organic" has a double meaning; "Whatever we do touches the world" also has two meanings. Organic: One, we are a magazine espousing organic ways of living, loving, and mattering. Two, we are organic to the world; man is not apart from Nature; man is a part of Nature. Whatever: One, no matter how far we are, whatever we do, we do it to the rest of Nature. Two, now therefore, whatever we do, we do it to ourselves.

In 2009, TIME Magazine came up with a good list of "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now," and these were:
(1) Jobs Are The New Assets
(2) Recycling The Suburbs
(3) The New Calvinism
(4) Reinstating The Interstate
(5) Amortality
(6) Africa, Business Destination
(7) The Rent-A-Country
(8) Biobanks
(9) Survival Stores
(10) Ecological Intelligence.

Whatever they mean, I don't have to discuss any of those 10. TIME misses the whole point: It is not ideas changing the world that is important, or how many of them. That has always been the case, and look what kind of world we've got. The world is people. What is important is people changing the world, and how many of them.

This is the Age of Networking, of Community, of Facebook, of the Internet. This is the Age of Mass Media, where the Internet is the most powerful mass media the world has ever known. The Internet is media, plural, because it comprises print, radio, TV, video, music, chat, podcast, and the instant letter (email).

That is why we have harnessed the power of the Internet along with the power of the print in coming out with Organic World Philippines. This is a new magazine dedicated to the pursuit of the dream of an Organic Philippines.

Organic World Philippines is a project of the PRS Organic Center whose main office is located right across the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in College, Laguna. It is the first of its kind in the Philippines and in Asia.

We are out to change the world.

We are Raffy Barrozo, "Doctor Organic," Publisher. Frank Hilario, "Super Writer," Editor in Chief. Acel Brioso-Corodan, In-Mag Promotions and Marketing Director. Divine Mesina, Contributing Editor.

I created a dedicated website yesterday (Organic World Philippines, blogspot.com) and, as it turns out, it was the birthday of Acel. Today, we met for the first time as a team at the National Ecology Center right across the Philippine Heart Center, and we wished Acel long life as well as the magazine.

Divine was saying we should be planting seeds among the youth, and I couldn't agree more. I said we should be targeting, among others, the students, high school and college, because as the National Hero Jose Rizal said, "The youth are the fair hope of the fatherland." And the adults? Too immersed in their own interests.

To encourage the youth, I was saying as the Editor in Chief, I will encourage and welcome to the magazine submissions of poems, songs, short stories on such subjects as Mother Nature, greening the Earth, farmer-friendly agriculture, safe foods etc. They must all be original and inspirational - and not technical. They must help build an Organic Philippines. They must help us all live, love and matter.