For our IPs in the Philippines

A month ago, the Zambales Governor opened his doors to PDS to save the idle lands and bring prosperity to its townsfolk.

Here is Sec. Piñol and his thoughts on how to uplift the lives of our tribal families.

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‘Millionaires in 5 years’

PRES. DUTERTE OKs LIVELIHOOD SCHEME
FOR 20,000 IP FAMILIES IN TRIBAL LANDS

By Manny Piñol

President Rody Duterte approved during the Cabinet Meeting on Monday a livelihood program designed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) which is aimed at turning 20,000 IP families in Ancestral Lands into “millionaires” in five years.

The program, Kabuhayan At Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo or 4Ks, is mainly an agriculture program focused on the development of Ancestral Lands into Tree Farms with other profitable crops such as Cacao, Coffee, Abaca and Black Pepper as secondary products.

The 4Ks is culture-sensitive program which will only be introduced to the IP Communities after exhaustive consultations.

For people to fully appreciate the context of the 4Ks, I am sharing here the text of my presentation of the program to the President and the other members of the Cabinet last Monday.

“KABUHAYAN AT KAUNLARAN
NG KABABAYANG KATUTUBO

A Livelihood and Agrkcultural Productivity Program
In the Ancestral Domains of the Indigenous People

Presented by Manny Piñol
Secretary of Agriculture

The Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran ng Kababayang Katutubo or 4Ks is a program inspired by the vision of President Rody Duterte to finally lift the Indigenous People of the country from poverty by developing their Ancestral Domain Claims through productive endeavours.

The 4Ks will be a collaborative effort of the following agencies:
1. Office of the President – to provide direction and guidance
2. Department of Agriculture – to design and fund agricultural and livelihood programs
3. National Commission on the Indigenous People – to link agencies with the IP groups
4. Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources – to assist in tree farming program
5. Department of Agrarian Reform – to thresh out tenurial issues
6. Dept. of Social Welfare and Development – to ensure membership in 4Ps of all 4K participants
7. Dept. of Trade and Industry – to link 4K beneficiaries to the market.

The 4Ks will be a culture-sensitive program which will introduce projects to which the IPs could easily adapt to.

These would include:
1. Tree Farming
2. Coconut Farming
3. Planting of Cacao, Coffee, Abaca or Black Pepper as intercrops in the Tree Farms
4. Raising of native pigs and free ranged chicken
5. Dairy Farming using Dairy Goats where the milk produced will be used in a feeding program for IP children.

Methodology:

– NCIP to identify CADT holders
– OP/DAR to assist in resolving tenurial issues of CADT holders
– DA to gather CADT holders in workshop to identify activities ideal for their areas
– DENR to provide Falcata or Gemelina seedlings
– DSWD to ensure that the families are supported by 4Ps
– DTI to arrange marketing agreement with pulp and paper or lumber firms for the marketing of the timber produced in the 4K areas.

Implementation

With the Dept. of Agriculture as the lead agency, each family in the Ancestral Domain will be asked to identify a 5-hectare area for his Tree Farm.

Through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), the DA, will implement a No-Interest, No-Collateral, Pay-Upon-Harvest loan program amounting to P300,000 for 5 hectares of Tree Farm with a 500-tree population per hectare.

The loan will be released on a monthly basis at P5,000 per month based on the assumption that the 4K Family will ensure that all 500 trees are growing and they will be given a monthly “maintenance” incentive of P2/tree. (Computation: 500 trees per hectare X P2 X 5 hectares)

In five years, the trees, when harvested are estimated to fetch a minimum of P2,000 each or an estimated gross income of P1-M per hectare or P5-M for the five hectares. Less his advanced “maintenance incentive loan” totalling P300,000, the 4K Program Participating Family is expected to earn at least P4-M.

Since Falcata and Gemelina are self-regenerating trees which grow saplings when harvested, the Tree Farm will be a sustainable and stable source of income for the Tribal People.

Additional Income Opportunities

Planting Cacao, Coffee, Black Pepper or Abaca under the Trees will be additional income sources for the 4K Families.

To sustain the families, the families could also be taught to raise native pigs and free range chicken while the women in the community to be established in the Ancestral Domain settlement could be taught to raise dairy goats whose production could be used in a milk-feeding program for the children in the communities.

Funding for these projects could initially come from the Dept. of Agriculture’s 2018 Budget for High Value Crops and Livestock. Additional funding could be included in the 2019 and succeeding budgets.

Initial Target Area: 100,000 hectares

Initial Target Participating 4K Families: 20,000

Initial Required Financing: P1.2-B for 2018 and P1.2-B every year thereafter until harvest on the 5th year.

Initial Target Date of Implementation: 2nd Quarter 2018

Expected Benefits:

– 4K Program is expected to turn 20,000 IP families into “millionaires” in five years;
– The program will result in the planting of 50-M trees in unproductive agricultural areas;
– The Program will dramatically increase the production of Coffee, Cacao, Abaca and Black Pepper;
– The Program will bring prosperity and peace in the tribal lands.

“Kung Gusto, Maraming Paraan’
Kung Ayaw, Maraming Dahilan!”

Peace, Progress and Prosperity in the Tribal Lands!”

With the approval by President Duterte of the 4Ks Program, the consultations with the IP communities will start in two weeks.

Four communities in four regions of Mindanao will serve as the pilot areas while other teams will be dispatched to other parts of the country to reach out to other IP groups like the Aetas of Zambales, the Dumagats of Sierra Madre, the Mangyans of Mindoro, the Ati of Panay and the tribal groups in the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Palawan.

National Greening Program (NGP) by DENR, Palawan with intentions to plant de-nude areas as identified by DENR

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National Greening Program (NGP) by DENR, Palawan with intentions to plant de-nude areas as identified by DENR through People’s Organization and Indigenous People’s (IP) organization not only to bring back trees into the idle open areas but directly giving future livelihood income to the community. Nursery were set-up and seedlings prepared for this project, with priority to re-forest the Mt. Mantaligahan Bio-diversity Protected Area.

PDS Bohol Chapter Organizes 1st Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition

The Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the first Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition last September 3, 2016. It ran from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at Kew Hotel, Tagbilaran City.

The event aimed to gather together multi-stakeholders composed of partners from the business community, farmers, young entrepreneurs, partners from national line agencies, local government units and academe.The Summit aimed to inculcate awareness of the huge potential of the Province of Bohol to expand in cacao production and further gain strength within the industry while ensuring the security and continuity of production in order to respond to the increasing demand of chocolate producers in the country, in the ASEAN community and around the world. The one-day event covered important details of cacao farming and the sustainability of cacao supply in the Philippines.

The summit was brought to you by Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with Province of Bohol, Department of Trade and Industry Bohol, Department of Science and Technology Bohol,Department of Agriculture, Department of Education Bohol Division, Bohol Island State University Bilar Campus, Plantacion De Sikwate, Atbang Farm, Ginto Chocolates and Bohol Bee Farm.

Programme

PDS Vice Chairman, Mr. Melencio Santos, National President, Mr. Christopher Fadriga, PDS Honorary Founding Member Mr. Rene Pamintuan and PDS Cebu Chapter Member Mr. Nestor Saludo, arrived at KEW Hotel for the Bohol Summit and Exposition 2016.

Our Vice Chairman, Mr. Melencio Santos, National President, Mr. Christopher Fadriga, PDS Honorary Founding Member Mr. Rene Pamintuan and PDS Cebu Chapter Member Mr. Nestor Saludo, arrived at KEW Hotel for the Bohol Summit and Exposition 2016. Let us wish TEAM PDS the best of luck!

Candid moments with the Bohol chocolate Princess Ms. Dalareich Polot and Maam Neneng (Ainerfe Cantoneros Holt) in the 1st Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition 2016

Candid moments with the Bohol chocolate Princess Ms. Dalareich Polot and Maam Neneng (Ainerfe Cantoneros Holt) in the 1st Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition 2016

Mr. Christopher Fadriga, Mr. Melencio Santos and Mr. Robert Olaer.

Congratulations to the prime movers and shakers of the 1st Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition 2016!!!

Congratulations to the prime movers and shakers of the 1st Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition 2016!!!

PDS Vice Chairman, Mr. Melencio Santos was given a Certificate of Commendation by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Engr. Albert Uy.

PDS Vice Chairman, Mr. Melencio Santos was given a Certificate of Commendation by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Engr. Albert Uy.

PDS President, Mr. Christopher Fadriga was given a Certificate of Commendation by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Engr. Albert Uy. Also in the photo is Ms. Ainerfe Cantoneros Holt

PDS President, Mr. Christopher Fadriga was given a Certificate of Commendation by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Engr. Albert Uy. Also in the photo is Ms. Ainerfe Cantoneros Holt, Chair, Committee on Agriculture.

Thank you very much to the Bohol Chamber of Commerce for these beautiful photos of the event.

Thank you Bohol Republic for this feature.

Summit sweetens emerging Bohol cacao industry

Some like their chocolates and sikwate sweet, some like theirs bitter; but everyone will like a sweeter, better cacao industry in Bohol as both government agencies and private organizations offer more and more initiatives pushing for its growth and expansion.

This was the consensus during the first Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition, on Friday, the 2nd of September 2016 at the Kew Hotel this city, which gathered more than 95 cacao stakeholders from Bohol, Manila, Samar, Cagayan de Oro and Dumaguete.

Comprised of representatives from government agencies from the provincial and regional levels, cacao exporters, cacao farmers, cacao researchers, chocolatiers, and cacao enthusiasts, the summit participants converged to listen to inspirational and educational talks by industry experts, network with other industry players, and unite as one Bohol Coalition of Advocates and Cacao Growers (CaCAO).

Discussions at the summit ran the gamut of the cacao production value chain process, including chocolate production.

Christopher L. Fadriga, National President of the Plantacion de Sikwate (PDS) Cacao Producers Association, Inc., the cacao research and development, and advocacy group initiated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Davao City, gave an overview on cacao farming from soil treatment, nursery, propagation and cultural management, pest management and post-harvest.

 Melencio G. Santos, PDS Board of Directors Vice Chairman, then presented their plan for a proposed cacao nursery in Bohol, which shall be operated by a PDS Bohol Chapter. Mr. Santos pointed out that planning what cacao variety to propagate in Bohol is essential as quality trumps quantity in the cacao industry. “Start right”, he advised.

While cacao planting is not new to Bohol, as backyard cacao trees and the making of tableya and drinking of sikwate has been a Boholano fixture since the rule of the Spanish, who brought these ‘food for the gods’ from the Americas into the country via the galleon trade, the so-called ‘cacao industry’ in the province is still in its inception stage.

Despite the presence of major international cacao exporter Kennemer Foods International, Inc. in Carmen town, Bohol still only accounts for perhaps a fraction of 1% of the cacao production in the country. Davao Region owns the lion share (80%) of the multimillion dollar Philippine cacao production; rest of Mindanao produces the other 10%, while Luzon and Visayas combined, claim the remaining 10%.

Currently, Bohol’s own cacao consumption cannot be met by our own production. Dalareich Polot, chocolatier and CEO of Ginto Luxury Chocolates, says she has to import cacao beans from Davao to meet her company’s and the family business’ (Dalareich Food Products) cacao needs. Ms. Polot staunchly advocates for more cacao production in Bohol. There is not only a growing demand of cacao globally, but also in Bohol itself.

Plantacion de Sikwate’s Melencio Santos advised Bohol to not only plant and export seeds, but, as much as possible, keep the seeds in Bohol, not only for Bohol’s own consumption, but to add value to these by creating cacao by-products in the province itself before exporting them to other provinces and out of the country.

For his part, Rene Pamintuan, President of Natural Farmers Institute of the Philippines and CEO of Bayside Transport and Logistics Corporation, presented the stark realities of Philippine logistics. Logistics, the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and point of consumption, is an oft-omitted topic but is very crucial as it could account for nearly 50% of business expenses. While there are very few international ports in the Philippines, Bohol can take advantage of the neighboring Cebu international port (the only export port in Visayas), Pamintuan offered.

Other speakers included Prof. Jose T. Travero and Dr. Marina A. Labonite from the Bohol Island State University (BISU) – Bilar (Cacao Pests and Diseases), Eric L. Albano, Area Manager of Kennemer Foods (Fermentation/ Exportable Standards of Quality Cacao Beans), Vina Antopina, chocolatier and Assistant Provincial Director of DOST-Bohol (Understanding the Chocolate Industry), and Nelia T. Navarro of DTI Region 7 (Understanding the Cacao Enterprise).

To cap the event and encourage more cacao industry players in Bohol, representatives from the First Consolidated Bank (FCB), Plantacion de Sikwate, the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Agriculture Training Institute (ATI), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) paraded the many programs and support services (financing and technical backing, among others) that their organizations offer to existing and incoming Bohol Cacao Growers.
Provincial Administrator Alfonso ‘Ae’ R. Damalerio, representing Bohol Governor Edgar M. Chatto, committed full support to the Bohol cacao industry.

The first Bohol Cacao Summit and Exposition was organized by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), its Agriculture Committee, in particular (chaired by Ms. Efrenia C. Holt),  in cooperation with the Provincial Government of Bohol, Department of Trade and Industry Bohol, Department of Science and Technology Bohol, Department of Agriculture, Department of Education Bohol Division, Bohol Island State University Bilar Campus, Plantacion De Sikwate, Atbang Farm, Ginto Chocolates, and the Bohol Bee Farm.

Similar fora and meetings held here before lumped cacao with other Bohol products such as coffee and ubi. This first business sector –initiated cacao-concentrated summit promises a bright outlook for the Bohol cacao industry as aims to realize the summit theme “Bohol Cacao Growers: From Bohol to the World”.

 

PDS Concern to Humanity

PDS Explores Ticao, Masbate

Ticao_IPsClick to view photos 

Cacao is a sustainable option for our brothers, the (Indigenous People) IP’S of the Philippines. Helping them will be a noble action to everyone of us for they are the people protecting our forest. Let us explore, preserve, and populate our cacaos in TICAO.

Several thousands of CRIOLLO Cacao Seedlings are now being prepared from different PDS Camps all over the country which will soon be transported to this amazing island of TICAO, Masbate. All Cacao stakeholders are invited during the PROJECT LAUNCHING which will be announced anytime from now. Even our PDS Chairman Cyrus Obsuna (at his Lake Buhi Resort in CamSur) personally perform the grafting of the few remaining Criollo Seedlings for Ticao Island of Masbate.

The PDS future place for the Criollo Cacao variety will be known to the world. Criollo is the world’s best cacao beans (materials) that will produce fine aromatic chocolates . This island is popularly known to the tourists because of the beautiful beaches and to the scuba divers in search for the excitements mingling with the manta rays.