A BICOLANO lawmaker on Monday hailed President Marcos’s fresh commitment of ample funding to fast-track the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) program to plant 100 million coconut trees by 2028,
Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, a coconut-producing province, said the massive replanting of coconut is needed in order to reverse the coconut industry’s “lackluster productivity, lift its farmers out of poverty, and restore our country’s erstwhile status as the world’s leading producer and exporter of coconut.”
“Spending big on the proposed CPRP (coconut planting and replanting project) of the PCA, which aims to plant 100 million coconut trees by the time the President leaves office in 2028, is pivotal to the goal of the Marcos administration to finally energize this once robust agriculture subsector, lift at least 2.5 million farmers out of poverty, and return our country to its erstwhile glory as the world’s number one coconut exporter,” Villafuerte said.
The congressman, has advocated for a massive coconut planting and replanting program for almost a year now.
“The President is spot on in committing ample funds for accelerating the PCA’s CPRP to plant 100 million trees, as this is a sure-fire way to energize this ailing industry back on its feet, bail out millions of poor farmers and their families, and let the Philippines overtake Indonesia as the world’s premier coconut producer,” Villafuerte said.
“In line with the President’s vow to leave nobody behind in his quest for a peaceful and prosperous Bagong Pilipinas, putting the CPRP on the fast track will go a long way in attacking poverty and promoting inclusive growth in this industry that accounts for a sizable part of our agriculture sector,” Villafuerte added.
“Much bigger spending on the coconut subsector will likewise enable the government to keep the domestic economy on a higher growth path—than last quarter’s gross domestic product (GDP) expansion of 5.7 percent—as this PCA bailout program that will benefit impoverished industry stakeholders is guaranteed to scale up household consumption or consumer spending, which is our country’s main growth driver,” he said.
