To heighten the legacy of wife Governor Auring E. Cerilles for the province of Zamboanga del Sur, 2nd District Congressman Antonio H. Cerilles has again search for another livelihood project for their constituents.

“There is money from the coconut wastes,” Congressman Cerilles declared who is the man behind the massive cassava plantation in the province with established tie-up of the San Miguel Corporation.

Coconut refuse has several value, Cerilles pointed out.  He further said that excepting its traditional use as firewood, floor polisher or utilized as buoyance for fishermen, coconut refuse specifically coco fiber has now of great value especially as export products. 

According to the Congressman, coco fiber can be one essential material for organic fertilizer which the province is producing bio-organic fertilizer.  But a lot of money can be derived from coco fiber such as making it into net, cocolog for slope protection and twining rope which are now in demand in the countries of China and Chile.

Determine to adopt such technology, Cerilles ushered the technical personnel of the Provincial Agriculture Office to General Santos City which is now exporting products made of coconut fiber.

At Kling Plantation of the Saranggani Cocotech in General Santos City, the group witnessed how the coco fiber turned into export products being produced manually.  Based from it, the Congressman said the process is so easy to replicate as another livelihood program of the provincial government whose direct beneficiaries will be coconut farmers and constituents whose means of livelihood are manual labor.

With proper implementation, Congressman Cerilles anticipated that this project will not put into vain for Zamboanga del Sur is vastly vegetated with coconut trees. 

But after their visit at the Saranggani Cocotech, the Congressman wanted to replicate the best effort here in the province.

Copra is one major product of Zamboanga del Sur especially now the buying price is as high as P22.00 per kilo.  If this coconut fiber production program will be in placed, definitely coconut farmers will be first benefit from this (Erwin Baldicantos/PPB).

Last update : 10-05-2008 14:43

Average user rating

   (0 vote)

Display 1 of 1 comments