EX-LAWMAKER UPBEAT ON COCONUT PLANTATION VENTURE IN N. LUZON
STO. DOMINGO, ILOCOS SUR, DECEMBER 27, 2007 (STAR) By Teddy Molina – Former Ilocos Sur congressman Salacnib Baterina is upbeat that his partnership with a Japanese group to put up a coconut plantation venture in Northern Luzon would revolutionize the countryside and benefit rural folk.The groundbreaking and initial planting for the project – that will eventually cover 600,000 hectares of public non-disposable land in the northern provinces and will entail $600 million in investments – were held last Dec. 16 in Barangay Caunayan in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, 82 kilometers northeast of Laoag City.
Four Japanese investors headed by Moriaki Hayashida, president of Pacific Bio-Fields Corp. (PBFC), and executives of Bio-Energy Northern Luzon Inc. (BENLINC) led by Baterina, the company president, presided over the groundbreaking.
Gracing the event were top local officials led by Rep. Roque Ablan Jr.; Dennis Calub, regional manager of the Philippine Coconut Authority; and local chief executives led by Pagudpud Mayor Marlon Sales.
Hayashida said their plan is to process coconut into CME or coconut methyl ester, an essential component for the production of biodiesel.
A 20-hectare CME plant will be put up in Currimao, Ilocos Norte to process coconuts produced from different parts of Northern Luzon.
Hayasida said the plant’s output, which will be shipped to Japan, would not even be enough to meet Japan’s huge biofuel requirements.
Hayashida’s group included Yasushi Kondo and Yuji Taniguchi, both PBFC directors, and Nobuhito Okuda, president and director of Net System Ltd.
Baterina said the project would establish the “biggest coconut plantation in the country.”
“You can imagine how it will revolutionize the northern countryside, from Ilocos to Cagayan,” he told The STAR.
He acknowledged the role of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Joselito Atienza in the project.
Ablan thanked the Japanese investors for choosing Northern Luzon for the coconut plantation site and assured them of their safety and the project’s.
“The impact of this endeavor on the North and its communities is tremendous. It means massive reforestation,” Ablan said.
The PBFC-BENLINC venture would initially cover Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, and Ilocos Sur, and might extend to Pangasinan.
The first phase of the project – which would utilize the Simba coconut variety – would involve thousands of hectares from Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte to Allacapan, Cagayan.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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