President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has directed the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to craft concrete plan for the development and rehabilitation of the coconut industry as he sees a ‘big opportunity’ amid the administration target to plant 100 million trees by 2028. In a statement on Thursday, October 05, Malacañang said the president had a meeting with officials of the PCA where they discussed the proposed massive tree-planting project.
Under the plan, the PCA seeks to plant 20 to 25 million trees every year from 2023 to 2028 or a total of 100 million trees. The President told the PCA not to focus on ‘political terms,’ noting that the project must be continued even after his presidency, if necessary.
In this regard, the PCA is recommending the issuance of a memorandum circular that would direct the concerned national government agencies and instrumentalities and urge local government units to support the coconut planting and replanting project. Citing a memorandum of agreement between the PCA and coconut-producing provinces and municipalities, the LGUs would be encouraged to implement coconut planting and replanting, seed farm development, and coconut fertilization, among other activities.
The proposed Massive Coconut Planting and Replanting Project 2023-2028 seeks to develop strategies in post-harvest, processing and marketing interventions under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan. It also aims to meet the strong local and international demand for coconut products, as well as to maximize the benefits of the coconut industry to the economy and welfare of Filipino coconut farms.
See: https://ucap.org.ph/news-manager/2023/12/president-marcos-orders-pca-to-craft-development-and-rehabilitation-plan-for-the-coconut-industry/