𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗗𝗱𝗢 𝗖𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁: 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆

To empower coconut farmers and strengthen the coconut industry in the province, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in collaboration with the PLGU-Philippine Coconut Authority, successfully conducted the 2nd Provincial Coconut Summit held at the Nabunturan National Comprehensive High School on August 22, 2023.

DTI Provincial Director, Atty. Lucky Siegfred M. Balleque said the summit is one of the steps of the government that aims to provide a platform for stakeholders in promoting inclusive economic growth and sustainable development toward the resilience of the coconut sector in the province.

This year’s celebration highlighted several components such as the plenary session, panel discussion, showcasing of food and non-food products through product exhibit, and profiling and registration of coconut farmers.

Status and updates on the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) were discussed by the Philippine Coconut Authority during the plenary session. Sunrise Ventures Corporation also provided inputs on business opportunities for Coco Sugar Production.

Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga graced the event with commitment of support “𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑢𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜, 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑝𝑎𝑘𝑢𝑠𝑜𝑔 𝑠𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑘𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑖 𝑠𝑎 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑜𝑘-𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑦𝑎 𝑢𝑔 𝑠𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑑 𝑝𝑎 𝑛𝑔𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑦𝑜𝑛, 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎 𝑘𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑔𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔-𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑎”.

Gov Gonzaga also led the induction of officers for the Coconut Industry Resource Circuit for Leadership Empowerment and Development Davao de Oro (CIRCLED DdO).

More than a thousand coconut farmers gathered at the event, and around 100 key stakeholders, experts, and enthusiasts from across the coconut industry shared a day of insightful discussions, knowledge sharing, and collaborative planning.

“𝑁𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑖 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑘𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑦𝑎 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑔𝑖ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑔 𝑠𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑏𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑡𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑘 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑢𝑠𝑎 𝑘𝑎 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑠𝑎𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖ℎ𝑖𝑦𝑜 𝑛𝑔𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑎ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑡 𝑢𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑎𝑢𝑏𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑎ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑦𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑔-𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑎 𝑠𝑎 𝑡𝑖𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑦𝑎,” statement of Mary Ann C. Cabillon, Chairperson of Comval Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative in New Bataan.

She also expressed gratitude to all the concerned government agencies for providing assistance and support from various trainings, orientations on value-adding and production technologies, and the provision of coconut seedlings. (𝑅. 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑛𝑜, Photos by Jonie Cadiz)