The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Palawan has commenced the implementation of priority projects funded by the coco levy fund.
In the last quarter of 2022, PCA rolled out a series of agricultural training programs for coconut farmers, a scholarship program, followed by efforts in organic diversified farming in the first quarter of 2023.
Engr. Arlo Solano, division chief and senior agriculturist of PCA Palawan, stated that there is no final budget allotment yet for each year, but the total fund for Palawan amounts to P75 M. It will be discussed in the regional inter-agency meeting.
“Yong iba ay wala pang amount ng operational manual kaya depende, kapag okay na yong operational manual at may corresponding budget na. Malalaman natin yan kapag nagkaroon kami ng regional inter-agency meeting kung ilan ang funding allocation sa mga program sa Palawan (Some programs do not have an allocated amount in the operational manual yet, so it depends. We will know the funding allocation for the programs in Palawan once we have a regional inter-agency meeting and the operational manual is finalized with corresponding budgets),” he said.
Other projects for the year include processing facilities and coconut hybridization, with 25,000 seednuts expected to arrive in 2023. The priority projects are under the Coconut Farmers & Industry Trust Fund (CFIDP).
The delivery of coffee seedlings has also started in Palawan, with around 8,600 coffee seedlings provided by the Department of Agriculture- High Value Crop Development Program. The beneficiary is the agriculture cooperative in Barangay Oring-oring, Brooke’s Point.
The projects are supported by the release of the trust funds established by Republic Act 11524, also known as the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) Act.
The CFIDP will define the direction and policies for the industry’s development and rehabilitation for the next 50 years. The Bureau of Treasury has been tasked with transferring at least P75 billion from the accumulated coconut levy to the CFITF in the next five years.
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