Malaysian firm to make Bohol the Philippines' jatropha hub

DAGOHOY, BOHOL, Philippines - A Malaysian company has moved to groom Bohol as the jatropha production center in the Philippines.

Zurina Amnan, chief executive officer of the Malaysian Bionas Group of Companies, visited this town to launch the Bohol Jatropha Agripolitan and turned over machinery to produce bio-fuel products from jatropha, also known as kasla or tuba-tuba plants.

Amnan said her company, which also has jatropha projects in other provinces in the country, chose Bohol to be the model of the bio-fuel industry "because you (growers) keep planting jatropha while others don't."

Bionas fulfilled its promise and, three months after, delivered the machineries to this town. "The machines are here. It's not an empty talk. We want Bohol to become the bio-fuel hub of the Philippines," Amnan declared.

She also asked the growers and officials to support the company's advocacy on mitigating climate change through the use of bio-fuels and helping Boholanos eradicate or reduce poverty via this livelihood of planting jatropha.

Amnan said Bionas will buy the finished products of jatropha and provide machinery to process these. The company will also raise the buying price of raw jatropha from P11 to P15 per kilo of dried seeds, she said, adding that this is the highest rate the company has offered around the world.

Adrian Escabusa, president of the Bohol Jatropha Growers Association Inc., which membership is now at more than 1,000, received the machinery consisting of decorticator that could process 300 kilos of seeds per hour, a boiler and filter. The end product would be mixed with the fossil fuel in gasoline, as required by Philippine laws.

Republic Act 9367, also known as Biofuels Act of 2006, mandates to mix biofuel, from jatropha, with the gasoline or diesel used by vehicles, for cleaner emissions.

Bionas officials said Bohol, with the machinery in place, is now ahead in this endeavor compared to the provinces of Iloilo, Leyte, Cebu and Samar that also started to plant jatropha.

Mayor Sofronio Apat of this town, Rep. Aris Aumentado of the 2nd district, San Miguel town Mayor Claudio Bonior, company officials and officers and members of the Bohol jatropha Growers Association attended the turnover rites of the machinery.

Apat told The Freeman he is fully supporting the needs of the local growers need by providing the building as their factory where the machinery were put up by Bionas.

Aumentado, for his part, said the multi-million jatropha factory will provide jobs and make use of the idle lands. He added that he will bring this matter up to the mayors of his district in a meeting on August 23 at San Miguel town..  are being utilized. He said this matter will be brought before the meeting of second district mayors on August 23 in San Miguel, Bohol.