PCIP

Provincial Commodity Investment Plan

PROVINCE OF ROMBLON

PROVINCE OF ROMBLON

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I. DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND

Romblon in itself is an archipelagic province strategically situated in the

center of the Philippines. It is composed of three major islands (Tablas,

Sibuyan, and Romblon) and seventeen minor and small islands. Three of these

minor islands are island-barangays namely: Alad, Logbon, and Cobrador in the

municipality of Romblon.

The province is surrounded by deep waters, Masbate Island in the east,

Mindoro in the west, Marindoque in the north, and Panay in the south. It is

approximately 187 nautical miles or 299 kilometers south of manila.

Known as the marble country of the Philippines, the islands are

geographically dispersed and accessible to Metro Manila and the rest of the

provinces only by means of sea transportation facilities, except for Tablas

Island where a domestic airport is located in Barangay Tugdan in the

municipality of Alcantara.

Romblon is a lone congressional district with seventeen (17)

municipalities and a total of 219 barangays. It has two provincial districts; the

first district is composed of eight (8) municipalities (Romblon, Magdiwang,

Concepcion, Cajidiocan, San Fernando, Corcuera, Banton, and San Agustin) and

the second district with nine (9) municipalities (Odiongan, Calatrava, San

Andres, Ferrol, Looc,Sta. Fe, Sta. Maria, Alcantara, San Jose).

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II. DEVELOPMENT VISON AND FRAMEWORK OF THE PROVINCE

The province’s development vision states: “A progressive province with

god-loving, climate change resilient and healthy people living in

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safeenvironments and habitation, guided by strong and dedicated leaders,

actively pursuing total development by 2025”.

The vision has elements critical to socio-economic development, to wit:

1.Participation in climate change adaptation and building enhancement

capabilities and development processes in all seventeen municipalities

of the province.

2. Improve people’s access to livelihood opportunities giving due

consideration on minimizing vulnerability to natural hazards.

3. To implement sustainable climate change adaptive and climate-

resilient programs for the protection, preservation, and proper

management of the environment

4. It promotes transparency and accountability.

The achievement of food security and self-sufficiency in food production

and the development of commodities with comparative advantages that could

boost the province’s growth through the development of the coconut industry

thereby maximizing opportunity for employment generation for the people is

the priority concern of the LGU.

With these, the following strategies will be adopted as the province’s

perceived way to attain its goals and objectives:

1. Provision of access roads from production areas to major markets

and processing centers, promotion of cost reducing technologies and

provision of support facilities and utilities.

2. Strengthening and clustering of farmers for convergencein

intervention, continuous capability building, and provision of

financing/credit assistance.

3. Upholding of good and honest governance and participatory planning

4. Promotion of sustainable development.

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Expected Outcomes/Results

1. Increased access of farmers to production and post-harvest

technologies and infrastructure support.

2. Provided trainings and technical assistance to farmers, agricultural

sector workers and other stake holders.

3. Increased income through adoption of proper technologies and value

adding activities.

4. Increased access to credit.

5. Good, honest, and transparent government

6. Strong stakeholder participation in planning and implementation of

projects and activities.

7. Adoption and implementation of environment- friendly programs

and technologies.

III. PRIORITY COMMODITY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT

Based on the commodity prioritization for value chain analysis for the

Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) coconut ranked first followed

by banana, mango, and seaweed.

Prioritization was based on the following criteria:

1. In terms of land area the province has 58,270.44 hectares planted

with coconut, 6,719,170 bearing trees, with a total volume of

production around 221,136,130 nuts as of 2013 accounting for 31%

of MIMAROPAs production of coconut.

2. The number of farmers/producers/growers (39,191 total) shows that

coconut has the highest share compared to all commodities that

were identified for prioritization, thus giving the highest percentage

of impact on having the potential of raising income in the rural areas.

3. The level of suitability using standardization value for the Bureau of

Soil and Water Management (BSWM) where 9 is the highest and 0 is

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unsuitable.

4. Coconut is being sold in the outside market, namely Lucena and

Batangas, where it is processesed into cooking oil. The irony of the

situation is that the province buys its cooking oil from the said

provinces.

5. The coconut industry has vast potential for development given the

proper technical assistance and appropriate technologies for coconut

processing.

A. Coconut Profile

The province of Romblon has a total area of 57,686 hectares planted to

coconut with 6,248,392 bearing trees producing 221,136 metric tons per

year. Most or 95% of the coconut produced in the province are transported

to either Lucena or Batangas. Lucena gets the bulk of 95% of the copra

produced by the province.

FIGURE 4 – eVSA Results, COCONUT PRODUCTION

Province of Romblon

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Being one of the major coconut producing province in the MIMAROPA

region, there are sixteen (16) copra producing municipalities in the province.

The municipality of San Agustin has 7,395 hectares planted to coconut with

Romblon and Cajidiocan having 6,393 and 5,896 hectares respectively.

In 2013, Romblon province produced around 4.4 million coconuts which

amount to 31% of the region’s production. In terms of nuts the producing

municipalities are Cajidiocan, Romblon, Magdiwang, Banton, and San

Fernando. Cajidiocan produces 16 percent of the province’s output at

707,868 metric tons. The other high producing areas are Calatrava, Looc, San

Agustin, and Conception. Although San Agustin has a higher area of coconut

plantations, it does not quite equal other provinces in terms of production

per hectare.

FIGURE 5 – eVSA Results, COCONUT TREE POPULATION MAP

Province of Romblon

San Agustin is one of the leading coconut producing areas in the

province. In 2013, it had 17 percent of the number of bearing trees in the

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province at 6,248,342 trees. The municipality of Cajidiocan, San Fernando,

and San Andres are among the municipalities with the most bearing trees at

707,873, 625,842, and 563,195 trees respectively while Romblon, Odiongan,

and Looc, had 545,716, 482,181, and 443,514 bearing trees respectively.

Multi-cropping and diversified farming under coconut is being practiced

province-wide using vegetables, root crops, and fruit trees. These provide

additional sources of income for the farming families in the rural areas

particularly in the coastal municipalities where most coconut trees are found.

FIGURE 6 – eVSA Results, COCONUT FARMERS

Province of Romblon

There are about 39,191 coconut farmers dependent on coconut for

livelihood province-wide, mostly located in Odiongan with 10,080 farmers

registered, as well as Cajidiocan with 4,143 and Romblon, having 3,590

coconut farmers. Figure 6 shows the distribution of farmers in the province.

As of 2013 coconut statistics, the MIMAROPA Region has a total land

area of 192,678 hectares planted with 17,525,539 bearing trees and an

annual volume of production of 712,899,000 nuts. About 29.94% of the

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region’s coconut producing land is in the Province of Romblon, with

6,245,342 bearing trees producing 221,136,000 nuts or 31% of the region’s

total production.

There are no existing processing plants in Romblon. However, the Saint

Vincent Ferrer Parish Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SVFPMC) is on its infant

stage of processing copra as refined, bleached, and deodorized oil (RBDO) or

commonly known as cooking oil. The cooperative established in 2005 the

Romblon Biodiesel Plant, a facility originally designed to produce biodiesel.

The plant has been refurbished to produce cooking oil as biodiesel found no

market in the province. The technicalities of producing RBDO or cooking oil

was perfected by the cooperative through the assistance of the DOST and the

private sector. The plant is currently capable of producing 500 liters per day

but production can be scaled to 1,500 liters per day.

Romblon imports its cooking oil at present. The irony being that it

exports its copra to the processing plants of mainland Luzon where value

addition is made. The cooperative intends to produce cooking oil and market

it locally substituting imported oil with locally produced oil. The SVFPMC will

focus on cooking oil production. To date however, the facility is not yet fully

operational. The plant can produce 12,000 liters of oil per month, operating 6

days per week and producing 500 liters per day, which requires 21,600

kilograms of copra.

According to Philippine Consumption of Edible Oils (1995-2007) the

consumption of oil per capita in 1995 is 3.7kg, 3.6kg in 1996, decreased to

3.1kg in 1998-2003, and further went down to 2.8kg by 2006.

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Philippines, Indonesia, and India are the leading coconut producers,

accounting for three-fourths of the global output. The Philippines is the

world’s leading producer of coconut oil with 46.2% of the global output, and

59% of the global coconut export. There are around 3.5 million coconut

farmers and about 25 million people are either directly or indirectly

dependent on the coconut industry (e.g. farmers, traders, processors, etc.).

Coconut farming is distributed across the entire country of 79 provinces, 68

are coconut growing areas. Coconut is grown on 28% of the Philippine

farmlands.

FIGURE 7 – eVSA Results, POVERTY INCIDENCE MAP

Province of Romblon

There are 39,191 coconut farmers in the Province of Romblon who are

directly dependent on the coconut production as a source of income. Most of

the coconuts produced are processed into copra, which is in turn used as raw

material to produce cooking oil. In an effort to increase the meager income

earned by coconut farmers from copra production, this study is envisioned to

establish a processing plant for RBDO in the Province of Romblon. Likewise,

technical and marketing assistance will be provided to uplift the

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development of the coconut industry.

With this, the expansion of the project to other poverty stricken areas

will help uplift the socio-economic well-being of the families. The proposed

RBDO processing plant will ensure a ready market for the copra produced by

the farmers.

FIGURE 8 – eVSA Results, COCONUT MUNICIPALITY RANKING

(Coconut Farmers, Coconut Trees, Area, & Poverty Incidence)

Province of Romblon

Figure 8 shows the rank of municipalities using four parameters as

follows: poverty incidence (0.1), area planted to coconut in hectares (0.2),

no. of coconut trees (0.1) and number of farmers (0.1). The municipality of

San Agustin topped the ranking, followed in order by Cajidiocan, Romblon,

Odiongan, and San Fernando.

B. Investment Plan

There are four major players in the Value Chain Map for RBDO namely the

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input suppliers, coconut farmers, traders, and processors. There are only a

few traders in the province (92) involved in copra trading. There are no

existing operating processing plants but the SVFPMC is in its infant stages of

processing copra into RBDO or cooking oil.

In line with this the Provincial Commodity Investment Plan was prepared;

identifying interventions within the various segments on the Value Chain and

is of significance to the overall provincial development and to the attainment

of national and regional goals and targets for agriculture.

IV. THE PROVINCIAL COMMODITY INVESTMENT PLAN (PCIP)has been

subjected to stockholders consultation which was held at Lyn’s Fern Garden

Brgy. Budiong, Odiongan, Romblon on January 30, 2015. A total of 101

stakeholders from different LGUs, PPMIUs, national government agencies,

coconut farmers, and coconut traders, participated in the consultation. A

series of consultations with the PRDP Inter-Agency Provincial Technical

Working Group (PRDP-IA-TWG) was conducted to discuss issues and problems

and map out plans for the appropriate interventions to be undertaken.

Considering the budgetary constraints not to mention the geographical

situation of the province the PCIP was presented to the Provincial

Development Council Executive Committee (PDC Execom) for support and

endorsement. Under SP resolution No. 08-04-2014 dated July 24, 2014 the

PDC Execom is empowered to approve/act on resolutions on matters of

provincial significance.

Among the value chain’s segments and services, support services/logistics

led the rankings wherein the concreting of sitio Aurora, Brgy. Pato-o,

Odiongan, Romblon to Brgy. Concepcion Norte, Sta. Maria, Romblon is

prioritized among the several farm to market roads identified. This is a viable

area with big potential in agricultural developments. The municipality of

Odiongan is the center for trade and commerce in the province. It is one of the

nine (9) municipalities of Tablas Island. The proposed FMR will traverse

through the municipality of Sta. Maria thereby promoting easy access in going

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to Odiongan. Likewise this road will also provide benefits on some parts of the

municipalities of San Agustin and Alcantara.

The FMR project is also envisioned to revitalize the agricultural activities in

the rural areas considering its access to the end market.

The provision of an access road linking major production areas and

processing centers will be complimented with enterprise development

through clustering of municipalities and provision of business enabling

programs which shall include capability building and advocacy, strengthening

of farmers organizations, processing plants, technical assistance, production

and marketing support, research and development, credit access among

others.

V. INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT

An Executive Order no. ECF05-008 series of 2014 “Organizing the Provincial

Project Management and Implementation Unit (PPMIU)” has been approved

on May 28, 2014. The overall coordinator of the PPMIU is the Provincial

Planning and Development Coordinator (PPDO) who shall lead the program

coordination, supervision and advisory services. The I-PLAN component will be

handled by the PPDO while the Provincial Engineers Office shall take the lead

for all infrastructure projects under the I-BUILD Component including the I-

REAP Component in close coordination with the Provincial Agriculturists Office.

The Social and Environmental Safeguards (SES) will be handled by the

Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and the

Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) to avoid negative impacts

and to address the current environmental issues and concerns as well as to

provide mitigating measures in the course of project implementation. The

Finance Unit shall be headed by the Provincial Budget Officer.

In support of the PRDP, Executive Order No. ECF08-0016 series of 2014

“Creating the PRDP Inter-Agency Provincial Technical Working Group (PRDP-IA-

TWG)” was signed on August 28, 2014.

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Likewise another Executive Order was signed on August 28, 2014, EO No.

ECF08-0015 series of 2014 “Creating the Provincial Coconut Development

Council (PCDC) for Romblon Province”, to support the development of the

coconut industry in Romblon Province.

Monitoring and Evaluation will be carried out by the different departments

with representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DA), Commission on

Audit (COA), and other concerned National Government Agencies. A Provincial

Project Monitoring Committee (PPMC) has been created with Non-

Government Organization (NGO) as member and will also compose the

monitoring team. This is to provide transparency and accountability in the

implementation of identified development projects in the PCIP. A regular

monitoring system shall be put in place and feedback mechanism shall be

encouraged. Geo-tagging will be a management tool for monitoring of sub-

projects and collaboration between and among the national and local

governments and private sector shall be promoted.

VI. LEGITIMIZATION AND PDC ENDORSEMENT

The Provincial Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) has been proposed in

consideration with other component groups through focus group discussions

(FGD), workshops, and consultation meetings. This draft document has been

presented to a stakeholder’s consultation meeting which was held at Lyn’s

Fern Garden in Brgy. Budiong, Odiongan, Romblon last January 30, 2015

This document was also presented to the Provincial Development Council

Executive Committee (ExeCom) in its special session held at the Vice-

Governor’s Conference Room on June 16, 2015 and upon deliberation, PDC

Resolution No. 06-01-2015 has been adopted, approving the Provincial

Commodity Investment Plan (PCIP) and strongly endorsing the same to the

Regional Project Coordination Office for appropriate action. PDC Resolution

No. attached.