LAMITAN CITY, Basilan—President Rodrigo Duterte pledged to help Basilan farmers combat the cocolisap pest problem which has destroyed thousands of fruit-bearing coconuts for the past several months in the province.
Duterte’s move came after Lamitan City Mayor Rosita Furigay, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Mujiv Hataman and Provincial Gov. Jim Salliman complained to Duterte and Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol in Malacañang about the massive destruction by the cocolisap pest on the island’s coconut trees that seriously endangered its economy.
Earlier, coconut farmers from Southern Tagalog also complained about the pest which eats young coconut fruits and ultimately kills the trees.
Duterte assured the Basilan leaders of his assistance and directed Piñol to immediately coordinate with the Philippine Coconut Authority in the eradication of the coconut pest.
Furigay claimed Piñol vowed to order Philcoa to initially provide local coconut farmers with appropriate insecticide and to later adopt longer-term measures to solve the problem.
During the meeting, Furigay said she also discussed with the Chief Executive the island’s rubber production.
She informed Duterte that she and other local government officials have often reminded rubber tree extract producers to maintain high quality even as she appealed to the former Davao City mayor “that farmers should be given a fair market value for their produce and that they must be also protected by the government from unscrupulous cartels that manipulate the price, depriving farmers of fair income.”
Furigay further lamented that “Because of price manipulation, the cartels are enjoying big profits while the farmers who work hard are suffering and should be compensated for their hard work.”
