Taking Grassroots Concerns to the Top in Abaca Rehabilitation
An anticipated event likely to take place in Southern Leyte State University this year concerns abaca rehabilitation in Sogod Bay and surrounding areas, which is the raison d'être of the Abaca Coalition of which SLSU is a part of.
The Abaca Coalition is setting its sights on inviting incoming Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol to a large consultation involving Sogod Bay abaca farmers, abaca traders and processors, guest and other players in the abaca industry, in the hopes of raising up legislation favorable to abaca farmers, and eventually turning around the current abaca situation.
SLSU-Sogod Extension Unit Head Nestor Morales met with representatives of the Abaca Coalition members LGU-Sogod, Philippine Fiber Industry and Development Authority (PhilFID), National Abaca Research Center (NARC), and Visayas State University, at the Office of the Vice Mayor of LGU-Sogod on June 6, 2016 to discuss the coming consultation with various sectors to evaluate the gains and progress of the National Abaca Summit held in 2015, a consultation – evaluation in which coming DA Secretary Piñol will be invited to allow him to see firsthand the concerns of abaca farmers and other industry players.
“The need for the fiber is so huge, that it’s actually difficult to satisfy this need,” said PhilFIDA Regional Director Wilardo Sinahon at the meeting, in explaining why it behooves the country to invest in abaca rehabilitation. “The biggest demand for abaca is in the use of meat casings and tea bags. Marketing is not a problem, supply is the problem.”
Abaca which is considered the strongest among natural fibers, is used in currency and bank notes, tea bags and meat casings, coffee filter, disposables, Bible paper, special art paper, among other uses. Abaca is the fiber exclusively used for meat and sausage casings since it is regarded as the only fiber that possesses the quality needed for such casings.
Being endemic to the Philippines, abaca is known worldwide as Manila hemp, the country being the top exporter of the fiber. “It’s high time for us to be aggressive because we were the country who held the monopoly of this crop” said NARC researcher Dr. Luz Moreno. “The crop is indigenous to the Philippines, but the support for it is scant.”
The major features of the coming consultation will be a presentation of the abaca industry status by PhilFIDA, proposal for infrastructure support for abaca-producing barangays by LGU-Sogod, and proposal presentation for abaca rehabilitation by NARC.
While the coming consultation will be an LGU-led activity, it has the staunch backing of the Coalition. The Abaca Coalition was convened by international research agency Worldfish in response to the outcomes of community engagement with Worldfish pilot barangays in Sogod where it was revealed that coastal fisherfolk desire the return of abaca to complement their incomes derived from fishing.
For more on the formation of the Abaca Coalition, see our story Thoughts on Change, Poverty, and Leadership at the Launch of the Coalition for Abaca Rehabilitation. For more on the National Abaca Summit, check our story Reviving Abaca: the National Abaca Summit Held at SLSU.
Extension Unit Head Nestor Morales with LGU-Sogod Vice Mayor Rufo Olo and representatives from PhilFIDA, NARC and Visayas State University.