Zacarias “Zac” Bolong Sarian, prolific farmer and former Agriculture section editor of the Manila Bulletin and former editor-in-chief of Agriculture monthly magazine, passed away Monday. He was 83.
Sarian hailed from Batac, Ilocos Norte. He studied in an agricultural high school while working in his veterinarian cousin’s farm where they raised hogs, poultry, and dairy animals.
Sarian’s passion for farming spilled from the field and onto the printed page where he inspired many Filipinos to try their hand in agriculture.
Even before he earned his foreign service degree from UP, he was already an agriculture columnist for the Manila Chronicle and eventually worked as the agriculture editor of Business Day, Manila Times, and Agribusiness Weekly before joining Manila Bulletin in 1991, where he stayed until his retirement in March this year.
As the Agriculture editor of the Manila Bulletin, he continuously shed light and brought recognition to an industry that was slowly losing its luster. Sarian was always on the lookout for promising crops and farms; coverage by Mang Zac often meant a boost in the farm’s clientele.
His influence was even more felt when he began to helm Agriculture Monthly magazine, which to date remains the longest running and most bought magazine of its kind.
He has received numerous recognitions for his work. He received a Jefferson Fellowship in Developmental Journalism in 1971 and the Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1974.
Other awards include the Most Outstanding Science Communicator Award from the National Academy of Science and Technology and J. Burgos Biotechnology Award for Best Feature Story in 2011.
