Motor oil from coconuts to boost RP coco industry

By Aurelio A. Pena

DAVAO CITY, Feb. 2 (PNA) -- Coconut farmers in the Davao Region hailed the recent reopening of a processing plant that turns coconut pulp into motor oil here at Matina Pangi, Davao City.

Armando Angsinco, chairman of the coconut industry cluster group under the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project (DICCEP), said the processing plant has provided an additional good market for coconut farmers looking for new alternative markets for their products.

“This is good for our coconut farmers here in Davao -- it’s another market outlet for them if they’re looking for new buyers of their coconuts,” Angsinco said.

The processing plant, Chun Hae Food Processor, the producer of S9 Biotech Motor Oil, reopened the plant last November long after it stopped its operation in October 2007 after threatened with legal action from the nation’s multinational oil companies which saw the Davao motor oil producer as a “threat” to their operations.

“It took me two years to convince these oil giants that we’re never a threat to their oil business,” says Sarlo Gentapan, proprietor manager of the Davao firm.

Gentapan said it took some time for him to convince local motorists that his coconut-based S9 Biotech Motor Oil is “far more efficient, safe and cost-efficient” when used as a regular motor oil in their vehicle engines.

Since his motor oil comes from coconut pulp called “sepal” in the local dialect, Gentapan confirmed it is considered “biodegradable: and environment-friendly. No chemicals are added in his biodegradable motor oil, according to Gentapan, because it comes from 100 percent “pure coconut” and impregnated with nine enzymes.

As a non-traditional industrial product, the Davao motor oil processing plant requires a regular supply of husked coconuts from Davao coconut farmers which the local firm buys at PhP 5.00 a kilo.

Farmers in Davao can now earn more income from their coconuts, in addition to the copra that they sell regularly to copra traders here,” Gentapan said.

DICCEP, a joint project of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is currently funding and running seven industry cluster capacity projects in the Davao region which includes the coconut industry cluster headed by Angsinco.

The coconut industry cluster chairman said they are currently overseeing a number of industry projects designed to boost the growth and development of the industry and uplift the living conditions of coconut farmers with the help of government agencies like the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Coconut Authority. (PNA)
DCT/AAP/lvp