SRE Calls for Increased Domestic Use of Coconets

LETTER SENT TO PHILIPPINE SENATOR PIA CAYETANO
September 1, 2005

Dear Senator Cayetano:

I am sending this message to you because I know your advocacies are on the environment and women empowerment.

We need to do a lot more to develop the DOMESTIC market for coconut fiber geotextiles (coconets). Currently, it is China that is the biggest user of coconets. And yet, the Philippines is landslide-prone and has thousands of hectares of degraded land (strip-mined mountains and hillsides, watersheds, riverbanks, mangroves, fishponds) that can benefit enormously - in an environment-friendly manner - from coconets. AND YET DOMESTIC USAGE OF COCONETS - THE PRODUCTION OF WHICH TRANSLATES TO THOUSANDS OF JOBS FOR POOR COCONUT FARMERS, ESPECIALLY WOMEN - IS PATHETICALLY MINUSCULE. (In addition, the selling price in the domestic market is almost twice that in the foreign market.)

The main gripe cited by coconet producers is that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) - despite Presidential Memorandum No. 25 mandating the use of coconets in all government infrastructure projects - is not too enthused, even if coconets are much cheaper than cement and imported peat moss. FYI: Germany has banned the use of peat moss because it involves mining that leads to ecological destruction. Germany has mandated the use of only coconut dust in lieu of peat moss. (Coconut dust is 65% of a coconut husk that is decorticated; 35% is coconut fiber.)

The other reason Filipino coconet producers are reluctant to go into the domestic market is the long wait for payment for deliverables, often taking months if not years. And most sub-contractors, including our NGO, simply do not have the means to borrow money. The Department of Budget Management (DBM) had initiated a prompt-paying scheme whereby government financing institutions can purchase contractors' deliverables at a discount, with payment made within 30 days. But many contractors claim that this noble scheme remains in limbo.

Our NGO is one of those little voices who insist that there MUST be ways and means to (a) put pressure on the DPWH to implement Presidential Memorandum 25; (b) follow through with the DBM on the prompt-payment scheme, and (c) prod foreign funding groups including the USAID, AUSAID, CIDA, JICA, et al - whose development projects include infrastructure upgrades throughout the Philippines - to include a clause in their contracts mandating the use of coconets as per Presidential Memorandum 25.

In other words, instead of looking at the export market as the only salvation for coconet producers, we focus on local solutions for a major local problem. What better incentive than a "wonder by-product from our tree of life" that benefits women and the poor as well as the environment!

I am sure that you have heard that the Philippines' innovation on coconets is one of the finalists in the BBC/Newsweek Global Challenge competition that culminates in mid-November 2005. Whether or not the Philippine coconet wins, the competition itself has already garnered worldwide attention and has gained precious publicity for our coconets. WOULDN'T IT BE A SHAME IF THE REST OF THE WORLD CAME TO REALIZE THAT IN THE PHILIPPINES ITSELF COCONETS ARE STILL AN UNKNOWN, AND LITTLE-USED COMMODITY???

At this point where only the foreign media appear to be heaping praises on, and spotlighting, the attributes of coconets, we could use all the help in getting the attention - and ACTION - of our country's leaders and decision-makers.

Thank you for whatever you can do to help promote the use of coconut fiber geotextiles (coconets) in the Philippines.

Sincerely,

Ms. Perla Limbaga Manapol
President
Sustainable Rural Enterprise
"Always Use Your Coconut!"
Banga and Ibajay, Aklan
Philippines
Telephones: 63-36-262-4846; 63-36-267-6811
Fax: 63-36-268-4765
E-mail: firlatot@yahoo.com
Blog: http://coconutsgalore.blogspot.com