RUNNING against time is an impossible task for any mortal. For Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA) Roel M. Rosales, however, it is a task he is willing to undertake.
According to Rosales, PCA deputy administrator for operations, learning from the past and applying the lessons double-time is a non-negotiable task: it must be done.
And it must be done now.
“With the experiences [from Supertyphoon] Yolanda [on coconut farms in the Visayas] we now see it as a priority to really fast-track the implementation of the remaining targets because what has been provided somehow was never enough,” Rosales said.
He is referring to the Philippines’s centerpoint Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Program (YRRP). The YRRP is currently the end-all and be-all so that Visayas’s coconut farmers avoid destitution.
“Nakita rin namin yung suffering ng mga tao so kailangan talagang ma-alleviate ’yan,” Rosales told the BusinessMirror. “Kailangan ma-commensurate sila by way of fast tracking [the implementation of the YRRP]. Taking cognizance of all these things, kailangan talaga naming madaliin ang ginagawa namin” [We have seen how farmers are suffering so there’s really a need to alleviate this. We really need to commensurate them by way of fast tracking the implementation of the YRRP. Taking cognizance of all these things, we really need to hasten the way we perform our duties].”
Returning vigor
THE YRRP is PCA’s mother plan for the coconut farms damaged by Yolanda in November 2013. The four-point YRRP is composed of debris management, replanting, fertilization and intercropping.
According to PCA documents, the YRRP aims to resurrect the coconut industries in three Yolanda-affected provinces in the long term. At the same time, the YRRP is also expected to serve as a mitigation program to ease Yolanda’s negative economic impact on coconut farmers.
Under the debris management (DM) component, the PCA aims to cut around 10 million of totally devastated coconut trees to clear public and private lands of the debris that pose hazard to the environment and health.
For the coconut replanting component, the PCA targets to replant around 10 million coconut trees in 100,000 hectares of devastated land. The PCA also aims to provide grant-in-kind fertilizers to affected coconut farming families.
Last, the PCA decided to introduce intercropping in the affected regions to help affected coconut farmers earn income by planting cash crops while awaiting for their new coconut trees to fully grow and bear fruit.
Rosales said the fertilization program was very important because it will compensate for the loss of the trees as it also would restore the vigor of the land.
“We know that it takes a minimum of five years before coconut trees bear fruit. So in the meantime, the fertilizer will swing things favorable for more production,” Rosales told the BusinessMirror. “The Yolanda victims needed it the most—to bring back the vigor of coconut industry in those areas.”
Hits, misses
THE PCA finished cutting the target 10 million trees in May of last year, according to Rosales, citing the DM component of the YRRP.
For the duration of this component, the PCA used 2,736 chainsaws, wherein 29,947 coconut farmers-benefited from the program, PCA documents show. Rosales said they allotted around P800 million for the YRRP’s DM component.
For the P700-million coconut replanting program, the PCA has completed replanting 8.549 million seedlings in over 85,495 hectares, with 21,858 farmers benefiting from the program, PCA documents show.
PCA documents also showed that from 2014 to 2015 the agency has fertilized 27,529 hectares, while some 13,620 hectares were fertilized this year. A total of 41,149 hectares has been fertilized so far. The hectarage translates to around 4,114,900 coconut trees fertilized and 17,121 coconut farmers benefiting from the program, PCA document shows.
Rosales said around P700 million was allocated for the fertilization component of the YRRP.
To date, the PCA has covered 82,964 hectares for intercropping since 2014, with around 81,024 farmers benefiting from the program. A report by the National Economic and Development Authority shows that the PCA aimed to cover 282,000 hectares for its intercropping program. However, since 2014, the PCA has only covered 29.42 percent of its intercropping target.
“We are haven’t reach 50 percent of our target for intercropping because the funds are not enough to sustain that activity,” Rosales told the BusinessMirror.
The PCA allocated P650 million for the intercropping component of the agency’s YRRP, according to Rosales.
Replanting season
UNDER the replanting component of the YRRP, the PCA distributed local tall varieties of coconut. Local tall varieties are expected to bear fruit in five years to seven years, compared to its dwarf variety counterpart, which only takes two to three years before fruition.
“We distributed local talls because they are the abundant ones. So by 2019 they will already bear fruit,” Rosales said.
He added they anticipate that the replanting woes would ease up as the coconut industry is slowly reviving, primarily in Region 8.
“Nagno-normalize na ’yung production although still medyo tight pa rin ’yung supply,” he said in an interview. “Pero iniisip namin na in the next few months magno-normalize na ang production.”
“Thats why fertilization is very important because it will compensate for the loss of the trees kasi nga alam natin na five years minimum na mag-flower s’ya at mamumunga,” he added. “Fertilization will swing things in favor of the farmer. Somehow, the loss is diminished kasi hindi mo naman mababawi ’yung nawala agad eh, kasi limited din ’yung resources [we can’t recoup what was lost because the resources are limited].”
Finding opportunities
ROSALES is upfront in admitting the YRRP has hit some snags.
“Well, we missed the opportunity,” Rosales said of the fertilization component of the YRRP.
“Nagkaroon talaga ng bureaucratic problems because the bidding has to be transparent dahil government ’yan. [Still,] there were some bureaucratic problems here and there,” Rosales said sans citing details.
Rosales said the PCA may not anymore seek additional budget from the government’s Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP). He said the agency will complete and finish the YRRP by using the agency’s P1.4-billion budget.
“The PCA is committed in being able to assist the coconut farmers of the Yolanda-affected areas,” Rosales said. “We shall pursue that goal certainly not by using the Yolanda funds anymore but using our regular budget and pool our resources to address the specific concerns of those farmers.”
He added they will increase the funding allocation for Region 8, the area most affected by Yolanda. Rosales said the increase would come from the PCA’s 2017 budget, given the accumulated unspent funding of the agency throughout the years.
“On top of the P1.4 billion next year, even if we speak of around P3 billion [of unspent funding] you can imagine that it would be more than enough,” Rosales said.
Image credits: AP/Philippine Air Force