COTABATO CITY — A proposed legislative measure that seeks to establish a Bangsamoro Coconut Authority (BCA) that will promote and protect the coconut industry in the Bangsamoro region was filed before the plenary on Tuesday, March 15.

The BCA will serve as the agency for the comprehensive and integrated development of the coconut industry in the region for the benefit of the coconut farmers in the region.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s Crops Production Survey, the BARMM is the 6th region with the most coconut production from July to September 2021, with 352,100 metric tons of total coconut production.

Coconut with husk is also recognized as the region’s number 1 non-food and industrial crop with 1,331,804.97 metric tons of production, as indicated in another PSA survey.

As one of the major industries in the BARMM, Engr. Baintan Ampatuan, principal author of the bill, said that the coconut industry is an important pillar of the region’s agriculture.

The proposed BTA Bill 177, also known as Bangsamoro Coconut Authority Act of 2022, also aims to achieve vertical integration of the coconut industry, promote the accelerated development of the coconut and other palm oils industry and provide general directions for its continuing development.

Some of the Authority’s powers and functions include formulating and adopting a general development program for the coconut and other palm oils industry in the region; evaluating the existing policies, programs, and projects of all BARMM agencies and instrumentalities having to do with industry development; implementing policies, plans, and programs for the promotion of the coconut industry; and regulating the marketing and export of coconut products and by-products within the region.

“The industry needs an intensive and extensive effort to promote integrated development and growth of the industry in all its aspects, to reach the full potential of the industry, and to ensure that coconut farmers are the direct participants and beneficiaries of such development and growth,” she explained.

Under the proposed measure, the BCA will be an attached agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR)-BARMM.

The heads of other ministries in the region will also be part of the Board of Directors such as the Ministry of Trade, Investment, and Tourism; Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, and Energy; Ministry of Finance, Budget and Management; Ministry of Science and Technology; the Administrator of the Authority; and six representatives from the coconut farmers and other palm oils industry sector in each province and Special Geographic Area in the BARMM.

MP Ampatuan also noted that more than half of the coconut trees in Basilan had been plagued by coconut scale insects, also known as cocolisap. A cocolisap attack is manifested by the yellowish color of the leaves of the coconut trees, thereby reducing the coconut fruits and gradually killing the trees.

“Time and enough funding are needed to mass-produce the biological control agents that are used to minimize the population of the cocolisap,” MP Ampatuan concluded.

Co-authors of the bill are MPs Amir Mawallil, Atty. Laisa Alamia, Atty. Rasol Mitmug Jr., Atty. Suharto Ambolodto, Engr. Don Mustapha Loong, and Rasul Ismael. (LTAIS – Public Information, Publication, and Media Relations Division)