House Minority Leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan filed two separate bills seeking to establish two new state-run coconut oil milling and refinery plants in Eastern Samar to boost the productivity and income of local farmers.
House Bill (HB) No. 10834 proposes the creation of Eastern Samar Coconut Oil Milling and Refinery Plant in the town of Sulat, while HB No. 10849 seeks to set up the South Eastern Samar Coconut Oil Milling and Refinery Plant in Quinapondan.
The two plants would process raw coconuts into refined oil and other high-value coconut-based products for the domestic and foreign markets.
“We are counting on the facilities to enhance the value-added processing of coconut products, create employment, stimulate the economies of Eastern Samar and nearby provinces, and to eventually help alleviate poverty,” Libanan said in a news release emailed Sunday.
“They are also expected to contribute in a big way to the national economy by boosting up the country’s exports of refined coconut oil,” he added.
Coconut oil is one of the country’s top commodity exports. It is extensively used around the world in baking industries, processed foods, infant formula, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, among others applications.
The country exported $1.115 billion worth of crude and refined coconut oil from January to July 2024, up 58.5 percent, or $411 million, from $704 million in the same seven-month period in 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
As proposed by Libanan, the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), would oversee the establishment, operation, and management of the proposed new mills and refineries.
Funding for the projects would be chargeable against the appropriations of the DA and the PCA.
The two plants would enjoy the income tax holiday for five years. They would also be exempt from customs duties and national taxes on their importation of capital equipment, raw materials, and other operating inputs.
They would also have priority access to credit facilities offered by government financial institutions.
Libanan represented Eastern Samar’s lone district in Congress for nine years from 1998 to 2007, and served as vice governor from 1992 to 1995.
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