A clear and present danger in the Philippine coconut industry

The cause of the explosion inside a unit in Serendra last May 31 was a suspected gas leak, not a bomb as speculated earlier. DILG Secretary Mar Roxas said that they are not certain as to whether the explosion happened due to negligence, incompetence, fraud or whatever reason. He also mentioned that they are seeking legal opinion from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the general welfare clause under the Constitution. In one interview he said that Ayala Land has no liability whatsoever. Is this his final answer? Sanamagan.

More than anything else, although all of the guidelines for fire safety are already written down and the preventive measures are clear with gas companies when installing gas line/pipes and LPGs – we (the consumers) do not seem to take heed of “prevention” and “safety”. We live with an attitude of “que sera, sera; whatever will be, will be; the future’s not ours to see; que sera, sera”.

The events that have taken place in the past should teach us lessons.  They should not be repeated all too quickly. But because of a lack of system and poor implementation of rules and guidelines, we find ourselves making the same mistakes. Remember the Ozone Fire Incident, the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy, the Cherry Hill landslide in Antipolo, Wowowee Stampede at the Ultra, the Glorietta Explosion in 2007, Ondoy and the fate of homeowners in Cainta and Marikina – have we really learned at all?

What shall we do to straighten up our lives and our country?  How can we become a more progressive lot?  If only our leaders can show us the way, then, I’m pretty sure the people will follow suit. Right now we are following the spoils of government and what’s sad is that we think there is nothing wrong with being inefficient, unsystematic, bad and corrupt. Oh, God please help us! 

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I love coconuts and I know that this ‘nut’ will give us many possibilities.  That’s if we take it seriously.

Over 340 million coconut trees occupy 3.56 million hectares of arable Philippine land, yielding over 15 billion nuts annually and directly or indirectly employing some 25,000,000 Filipinos within the industry.

In recent years, Indonesia overtook the Philippines as the nation with the most coconut trees. According to my good friend, Jose Osias (Management Consultant of O & G Advisors; National Convenor of BalikProbinsiya) India, Thailand and Brazil outpace the Philippines in product development and manufacturing breakthroughs. But the inherent sweetness and processing adaptability of Philippine coconuts remains the envy of most producers.

Unfortunately, we rely too much on nature to ensure the market’s competitiveness. We should realize that our coconut industry’s manufacturing sector is grossly underdeveloped earning only roughly $1.5 billion annually from coconut exports. Legal wrangling has also prevented billions in coconut levy funds from being mobilized to improve the miserable lot of coconut farmers and modernize the stagnating industry.

Fifteen percent of the 340 million Philippine coconut trees are senile (too old) and should be replaced. That leaves about 290 million trees capable of producing the industry’s raw materials. Even if this inventory is further reduced to only 270 million as a result of the recent typhoon Pablo damages, we can still produce 11,610,000,000 coconuts at today’s 43 nuts/tree annual output. This would mean a billion nuts more than India (the country that use to rank behind Indonesia and the Philippines) in coconut production. If we can only hit 78 nuts/tree with a good soil conditioner and proper care, we can produce more nuts annually than Indonesia’s 21,000,000 count.

Another venue for growth in the industry is to venture on other coconut products which can quickly spark a coconut revitalization and modernization program. Today coconut is no longer just about buko, copra, cooking oil and desiccated coconuts.  Health and wellness research, environmental consciousness and technological advances have catalyzed development of many coconut-based products and manufacturing processes internationally.

Recently, alarming reports showed that a virulent infestation has wiped out most, if not all, of the coconuts in Tanauan, Batangas. This disease has rendered up to 1,500,000 trees in the CALABARZON area unproductive and is beginning to affect other crops and fruits in the area. It is also spreading to other parts of the Philippine archipelago with sightings reported in MIMAROPA, North Luzon, Cebu, Samar and as far south as Basilan.

By any reasonable measure, this infestation is a clear and present danger to the Philippine coconut industry and could threaten the entire agriculture sector. As of the first quarter of 2013, no product, procedure or system had been found by technical teams of the PCA despite very high research expenditures since 2010.

In my column last May 27, 2013, I wrote about a story involving the PCA and Kinetics BT Global, a foreign company (who believes to have a solution on the infestation problem). I received a very cordial response from Agriculture Secretary Alcala with an assurance that PCA will look into the matter and provide a comprehensive report.

However, in contrast to Secretary Alcala’s response was another letter I got from PCA Administrator Euclides Forbes. In reading his letter, I can fully understand why the Taiwanese businessman described him as arrogant. His letter sounded quite defensive, conceited and demanding.  Well, I was going to publish his letter but on second thought, his letter doesn’t deserve a space in this column.

I was able to speak to the Taiwanese investor who only means well to help our country and who has already brought his products to five other countries in Asia namely China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and India (and have been well received there).

The first run of his product conducted by PCA officials showed bad results with leaves turning brown. He was perplexed with the results because he knows that his product has no ingredient that causes burning.  This is why he believes that his product was sabotaged by someone in the PCA. So what else is new?

He said that he always shows humility when dealing with the PCA officers. And he wrote a courteous letter to them that acknowledged their technical differences. But he is still committed and quite persistent in finding a cure to the problem of infestation. He is awaiting the next sample run of his miracle spray promised by the PCA.

If people in government have the political will and the sincerity to save the natural resources of the Philippines (and the coconut industry for that matter) then we will feel and see “good” results of their work. There is no need for too much braggadocio.  Hard work and positive results is the key.

If there are more product development programs in the coconut industry, it will surely help boost our economy. But up to now, many of our farmers are stuck in copra. What’s going on?  What has the PCA with all its personnel done since the seventies?

And by the way, if we don’t treat our farmers and investors well, our agricultural industry will suffer as it is already happening now. So, let us first learn to humble ourselves and think of country before personal pride.