MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s issuance of an executive order on coconut farmers and industry development plan would benefit 3.5 million farmers, Sen. Cynthia Villar said.
Villar over the weekend said the EO approving the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) is a “welcome development” as it would result in the release of a P75-billion trust fund from coco levy assets to bankroll the development of the coconut industry.
“This marked the fulfillment of President Duterte’s promise to return the coco levy funds to their true and rightful owners – the coconut farmers,” said Villar, chairperson of the Senate agriculture and food committee.
Republic Act 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act, authored by Villar, was signed into law on Feb. 26, 2021, and became effective on March 13, 2021.
Under EO 172, Duterte approved the CFIDP, which was mandated to be prepared by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) under RA 11524, aimed at boosting the competitiveness of coconut farmers in the country.
Villar said the Philippines is the world’s second-largest producer of coconuts next to Indonesia. Davao region is still the top coconut producer contributing 14.4 percent to the country’s total production. Zamboanga peninsula follows with 13.6 percent then Northern Mindanao with 12.9 percent. By island group, Luzon produces 20 percent, Visayas 34 percent, and Mindanao 46 percent of coconut output.
As of Dec. 31, 2020, the Presidential Commission on Good Government estimated the total coco levy cash assets at P113.88 billion, of which P76.4 billion is in cash.
“We thank President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for this legacy that he will leave to the Philippines” coconut industry and the Filipino farmers and farm workers,” Villar said.
Villar said the EO aims to boost the competitiveness of local coconut farmers, noting how it would help alleviate the lives of the country’s coconut farmers from the 68 coconut-producing provinces.
In signing the EO on June 2, the President acknowledged the significance of having a plan for the development of the coconut industry.
“There is a need to approve the CFIDP to increase overall productivity and income of coconut farmers, alleviate poverty, and achieve the twin objectives of rehabilitating and modernizing the coconut industry to attain social equity,” read the EO.
Villar said the coconut industry has a very high potential for growth through productivity enhancement, diversification and industry value-addition. “If managed well, it can be instrumental in rural industrialization and job creation,” she said.
However, she said there are problems confronting the coconut industry, among which are the unorganized supply chain, vulnerability of coconut to world price fluctuations, and low farm productivity.
This last stems from infestations of cocolisap, aging of the current crop of coconut trees and poor nutrition, inadequate infrastructure support and poor farm-to-market roads.
EO 172 also provides that the PCA, along with other concerned government agencies, will implement the CFIDP.
The CFIDP should be in line with the provisions of Section 4 of RA 11524 and consider the distribution of the annual allocation from the Trust Fund, including the development of hybrid coconut seed farms and nurseries for planting and replanting (20 percent), to be implemented by the PCA (15 percent) and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (five percent) for research.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/06/13/2187930/coconut-industry-eo-benefit-35-million-farmers
