What happened to the anti-CSI drive?

What has happened to the campaign against coconut scale insect (CSI) infestation that created havoc among coconut farmers whose livelihood depends on the industry?

BABALA (Bayan Bago Ang Lahat) wants to know. BABALA is a public service entity committed to disseminate into public focus issues it finds inimical to public interest.

Last year, BABALA recalls, P-Noy signed Executive Order 169 allocating P700 million for treatment of the coco plague. What happened? Latest published report said the infestation has not been licked.

Coconut farmers aired strong opposition to the Philippine Coconut Authority method that injected Neocothinoid, allegedly a toxic chemical, into coconut trees. Neocothinoid, they feared, would make the coconut water sour and the meat (buko) unfit for human consumption.

If foreign buyers, they added, learned our coconut trees are was elected as City Mayor seven times, Vice Mayor once and Representative to Congress once.

In serving close to half a century in public service, Duterte has maintained a clean record although he has been accused a number of times for alleged human right violations. But he has never been found guilty of any of these accusations.

Every election in Davao, alleged human rights abuses were thrown his way. And everytime, he was elected overwhelmingly. This clearly manifests that these allegations are no more than politically-motivated propaganda that surfaces seasonally.

We trust that the necessary correction will be made on this regard. — PETER LAVINA, ptlavina@yahoo.com injected with toxic chemical, we can kiss the burgeoning foreign market goodbye.

Farmers even suggested that President Aquino compel the PCA to use local formulation that have been proven effective against coco pests.

There is, for instance, The Botanical Insect Growth Regulator (BIG R1 & 2) which Riza Manalo, entomologist/licensed agriculturist assigned with the PCA provincial office in Alaminos, Laguna, found effective against coconut pests. In a certification she said she was assigned to inspect and validate the spraying of BIG R1 & 2 on coconut trees infested with CSI in Laguna.

In the process, she let a trained coconut tree climber climb the trees at random to collect coconut palms (palapa) before they were sprayed to find out if they are CSI infested. Finding the infestation, she instructed the climber to spray the trees, three days during sunny days and one week if there was slight rain.

She did her inspection/validation six times. She inspected both live and dead insects at the field and at the office with powerful lighted lens and under microscope. Her findings: BIG R1 & 2 effectively controlled the CSI.

— GERRY CONSTANTINO, BABALA, Muntinlupa City