Basilan’s 1st Coco Summit
to curb cocolisap infestation
by Rene V. Carbayas
Government agencies, non-government
organizations, and the local government units converged at the Sangguniang
Panlalawigan Hall at the Capitol building of the Provincial Government of
Basilan to gain public support and generate strategies to control the spread of
cocolisap.
Officials from the Philippine Coconut Authority
(PCA)-Central Office in Manila ,
the regional office in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and
region 9 were present to respond to the issues and concerns confronting PCA’s
intervention in curbing the cocolisap infestation in the affected city and
province.
Efren Carba of PCA-9 gave an audio-visual
presentation on the status of implementation of the region’s intervention to
control cocolisap in Isabela
City , while Marina Wahab
and Onesima Hayawan of PCA-ARMM also provided updates.
Carba said that since the infestation was first
verified in October 2012, various activities and initiatives were conducted by
PCA in partnership with government agencies in the control and treatment of the
cocolisap.
PCA reported that as of end of July 2014, some
92,359 coconut trees were already infected in Isabela City
alone. Isabela has some 954,722 coconut trees as per record of PCA-9. In the
ARMM province of Basilan , data are still being collated.
Of the 6.5 million coconut trees in the province, the number of infected trees
is still to be determined. But, since it was sighted and verified in Batungal
of Maluso town last September 2013, some 2,482 coconut trees were reportedly
infected in Lamitan
City as well as in
Lantawan, Maluso, and Tuburan towns. PCA-ARMM said that some 1,143 were given
treatment through pruning and biological control.
PCA Deputy Administrator Roel Rosales admitted
that the coconut industry is now in danger. He, however, thanked the local
stakeholders for the expression of support to fight the cocolisap and for
recognizing the lack of personnel of PCA in the locality. Rosales said that
additional personnel were already hired in Isabela City
and soon for the province.
“While it is a concern, the number of infected
trees is still small, which is barely one percent of the total population of
coconuts in the Philippines .
But it does not mean that the government will be complacent as the spread is
rapid,” Rosales said.
With the infestation, Rosales believes that the
coconut farmers are the ones who can fully respond to the crisis when fully
equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills in handling the infestation in
their farms. With this Rosales said they will strengthen the capacity of the
farmers by putting up coconut farmers’ schools and FITS (Farmers’ Information
and Technology Service) Center.
When asked where government failed in curbing the
spread of infestation, Rosales said that one has to put things in perspective.
He said that the scale insect was endemic in the Philippines and that the local
specie was not destructive.
But when the spread was rapid, authorities have
suspected that the specie may not be local. He said that scientists have
verified that indeed the destructive scale insect foreign in origin.
After the PCA presentations, discussions and
forum in the morning, almost half of the participants came back in the
afternoon for the action planning. Some participants observed that some key
stakeholders in the crisis were not present, like the local chief executives,
who play vital roles in terms of local government unit’s responsibility in
controlling the infestation.
Provincial Administrator Tahira Ismael said that
the mayors were invited because the summit was intended for them. She only
hoped that the mayors’ representatives who were present would update their
respective mayors as to the results of the Summit .
The Summit
has identified some issues and concerns in curbing the cocolisap menace. Among
them was the continued spread of the scale insect in spite of PCA’s
intervention, the lack of local PCA personnel, the poor knowledge of coconut
farmers on the infestation, the lack of engagement with unresponsive
landowners/farmers, and the lack of pertinent data.
Some interventions were also identified, such as:
strict implementation of quarantine in all ports and borders of the province,
deputation training, massive information drive, continue with PCA’s intensive
treatment program, documentation and data gathering, and personnel augmentation
by the province and agencies concerned.
Moreover, Rosales has encouraged the coconut
farmers to start value-adding with their coco lands by intercropping and
livestock-raising as alternative livelihood while waiting for the infected
coconuts to recover for about a year. (PIA) (081514)
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