PB Member pushes for coffee plantation

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu Sixth District Provincial Board Member Glenn Soco is supporting Tuburan Mayor Aljun Diamante’s recommendation for each local government units in the province to allot at least one hectare for coffee plantation, as this will reportedly become a P13 billion industry.

Soco, who is the chairman of the committee on trade and commerce and who owns a chain of coffee shops, Coffee Dream, said that he shared Diamante’s vision on the planting of coffee in Cebu Island, especially that the country’s coffee supply is not even enough to cater to the local demand.

“Kami ni Mayor Ajun, we share the same conviction nga dapat gyud palambuon gyud ang pagpananom og kape diri sa atong Island of Cebu kay even ang ato nga local supply dili kaigo sa local demand. Bisan iponon pa ang tanan nga supply sa tibuok nasud dili paigo siya sa demand sa local. Gi-estimate nako nga about 30 to 40 percent lang ang atong supply,” Soco said in an interview with The FREEMAN.

Soco said that most of the coffee beans being used in the country are imported.

“Ang gigamit nato karon mostly kay imported. But, to me, mas nindot nga fresh ang imong beans.  It should be closer to the farm imong beans. If you have a coffee that has a shorter period gikan sa pag-harvest all the way up to paghimo og kape, then for me that is the best coffee that we have,” Soco added.

He said that coffee planting is difficult to sustain, if done through private undertaking.

“Lisud i-sustain if private undertaking. There has to be government support and I think that is how the Turburan became successful because the government also supports it. And, of course, you have the mayor who is directly involved sa industry,” Soco added.

Diamante has been calling everyone to join him in his campaign, to make Cebu a coffee capital of the Philippines, and for the Philippines to become a coffee producer in Asia.

“1,000 hectares per town and that is 44,000 hectares multiplied by 1500 trees per hectare. So, 66,000,000 million trees.  Daku na kaayo matabang sa environment, then at 10kilos per tree, so naay 660,000,000 kilos tanan at P15-20 per kilo. That is a P9.9 billion to P13.2 billion per year,” Diamante explained.

“Calling Tuburan as the coffee capital of Cebu is somehow a reward that I earned after a decade of hard work and perseverance. Having my family to get involved and workers to work with utmost honesty and to have ownership on what they are doing will surely bring the whole team to a concrete success,” the mayor said.

Diamante, in a separate interview, yesterday said that, so far, there are 3,000 hectares in his town dedicated for coffee plantation and with more or less 2,000 coffee farmers based on the latest record of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The mayor targets to have at least 5,000 hectares in his town planted with coffee as he projected that it would be one of the ways of elevating the poverty incidence in his town, since coffee farmers were given the opportunity to earn.

Poverty incidence in Tuburan in 2009 is 45.90 percent, but it was lowered to 24.40 percent in 2018.

“Wala pay data ang PSA since 2019-2022. Basin moubos pa ug maayo ang 2023 kay naa naman sad 955 nga mag-graduate sa 4Ps,” the mayor said.

Diamante founded Tuburan Coffee, Cebu’s homegrown coffee, which is now penetrating the local market, with plans to put up three more “Tuburan Cafe” in SM Consolacion, SM Seaside City and Robinsons Galleria Cebu.

Currently, it has one coffee shop located in Tuburan town. –/GAN (CEBU NEWS)