Marcos Approves Additional Budget to Strengthen Coconut Industry

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved an additional budget to bolster the Philippine coconut industry, focusing on boosting production and replanting efforts over the next few years.

According to a statement from the Presidential Communications Office, the new funding includes P1 billion for a mass replanting program and P2.5 billion for fertilization initiatives. The replanting program aims to plant approximately 100 million coconut trees by 2028, covering over 700,000 hectares of land. The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) will utilize its budget to purchase fertilizers for this effort.

“I’m focusing on the production side [of the coconut industry], and that’s what we have to increase. The critical part of that is the replanting,” President Marcos emphasized.

PCA Administrator Dexter Buted outlined that the additional funds would be directed towards planting 15.3 million new coconut trees by 2025. The PCA plans to plant 8.5 million seedlings this year, increase to 15.3 million seedlings in 2025, and then maintain a target of 25.4 million seedlings annually from 2026 to 2028.

President Marcos highlighted the importance of replanting, noting that the country maintains a leading position in global coconut product exports despite years of neglect in the industry. “We’re still, I think, number one… despite the fact that we are really working with very limited raw material because nga hindi nag-replant puro matanda na ‘yung mga trees natin. That’s why this replanting is important,” he explained.

In addition to the replanting and fertilization efforts, the Department of Agriculture will undertake intercropping activities with crops such as coffee, cacao, and bananas while the new coconut trees mature