MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is hoping to get funds for coconut product processing hubs in 2016.

During a Senate budget hearing on Friday, September 4, officials said that the proposed 2016 budget does not allot funds for its new program to put up coconut agro-industrial hubs.

The PCA’s proposed budget for 2016 is P1.3 billion – much lower than its P4-billion budget in 2015 and 2014.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said she would try to help the PCA, citing the need for projects focused on improving income of farmers.

The coconut agro-industrial hub program aims to put up large-scale processing centers in the 68 coconut-producing provinces in the country.

These hubs are equipped with machines and facilities that can be used by all coconut farmers in the area to make high-value products like virgin coconut oil, coconut water, coco sugar, and coco coir.

By enabling farmers to create more products out of coconuts, the government hopes to increase their income.

Hubs ‘in demand’

In 2015, the PCA used up the program’s P340-million fund. As of posting, 24 hubs are now ready to be launched in Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Batangas, and Quezon, said PCA Administrator Romulo Arancon. 

The program has also trained 928 farmer-beneficiaries on how to use the hub.

Other provinces now want an agro-industrial hub, but with no fund allotment for the preject in the PCA budget, chances of getting one are slim. 

“Many have been requesting. In fact, we told them if you want a hub, go to your congressman and request for the budget for the coco hub, to restore the budget for coco hub for next year,” said Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Undersecretary Edel Guiza.

It’s complementary program, village-level coconut processing hubs, also received a much smaller budget. From P173 million in 2015, it was given P55 million for 2016.

These smaller hubs are supposed to be nodes connecting to the larger agro-industrial hub.

For example, a village-level hub composed of 8 farmers produce coco syrup. The farmers take their syrup to the agro-industrial hub with a granulation center to turn the syrup into coco sugar.

Investing in such hubs has never been more timely, said Guiza. There is now great demand for coco coir nets from mining companies and government agencies like the Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Irrigation Administration.

Raising farmers’ income

Villar said she believes the decision to remove the budget for agro-industrial hubs was due to the belief that the controversial coconut levy funds would be used to fund the program.

But the coco levy has not yet been released, despite a Supreme Court ruling that government should use it to benefit Filipino coconut farmers.

The Court also stopped two executive orders by President Benigno Aquino III that laid out the coco levy fund’s use.

Some coconut farmer groups also oppose the use of coco levy funds in the national budget, proposing instead the creation of a trust fund.

With the fate of the funds up in the air, PCA officials are hoping to ensure the program’s continuation through their 2016 budget.

“To cover 68 provinces in 3 years, we would need P600 million a year,” said Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan.

Of all PCA programs, the agency officials said the hubs deserve a higher budget because “it has a direct impact on job generation,” said Guiza. 

It also makes no sense to fund village-level hubs but not the bigger hubs, she continued.

“When it’s too small, it won’t be sustainable because you need a center to take care of the big support facilities like technology transfer, marketing, financing, capacity building, which [an agro-industrial] hub can do.” 

Aside from the coconut funds, budget for coconut replanting, fertilization, and pest control were reduced. Villar said she would try to address these concerns as well. – Rappler.com