FOR years, the Philippines was left with no listed national plant.
With this, Department of Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol is pushing for abaca to be declared as the country's national plant.
Supporting his brother, Kidapawan City Vice Mayor Jun Piñol, the Agriculture secretary is keen on highlighting the strongest natural fiber and supporting his brother's proposal to Congress.
Pinol quoted his brother argument that abaca apart from the fact that it naturally grows only in the Philippines, the plant also produces the strongest natural fiber in the world.
"It is distinctly Filipino," Secretary Piñol said, adding that abaca reflects great symbolism in the strength of its fiber "because it depicts the strength of the Filipino spirit and the resilience of the people in times of hardship and calamity."
Piñol, acknowledging the present fact that though at least three countries now -- Costa Rica, Ecuador and Indonesia, are starting to grow it, abaca is still native to the Philippines.
"abaca is endemic in the Philippines. Ecuador is just sourcing from us. Now, If we squander that opportunity again, chances are we will lose out to Ecuador," Piñol said earlier.
Market value
At present, abaca fiber commands a higher price in the market -- up to P90 per kilo and an hectare could yield up to two metric tons (MT).
He said this is because the industry has largely been ignored and neglected by the government.
Also, the lack of research and technology in disease control led to the collapse of the industry after a disease called "Bunchy Top" destroyed large farms all over the country.
Originally, abaca fiber is used for marine cordage and weaving of indigenous clothing materials like the famous Tinalak of the Tboli tribe of South Cotabato.
Now, it is used to print paper money, security papers, cards, handicrafts and car roofing and dashboards.
The eyed national plant, Piñol said, could be easily grown under coconut trees and even in marginal lands all over the country.
It could provide farmers with additional sources of income from their land "even when planted only as a secondary crop."
abaca advocate Alberto Fenix, for his part, said the market is "almost unlimited" considering that only the Philippines is producing it in bulk.
He said the world is, in fact, experiencing a shortage of abaca fiber supply at about 140,000 metric tons every year.
Philippines is only producing some 60,000 MT a year.
To augment this, at least 70,000 hectares of land should be planted to abaca with a planting density of 1,500 saplings per hectare.
"The market could even be greater if, along the declaration of abaca as National Plant, a law would also be passed which would require that all Philippine official documents like passports and travel documents, business licenses, NBI and Police Clearances, Birth and Death Certificates, Graduation Diplomas, Land Titles and Bonds, be printed using abaca pulp and fiber as material," Piñol said.
With a population of 105 million growing at a rate of 1.9 percent every year, tens of thousands of abaca pulp and fiber would be needed for birth and death certificates and graduation diplomas alone, a large income for farmers in the countryside.
Reviving abaca industry
In a bid to bring back the glory of the industry, the DA vowed to support the revival and rehabilitation of the abaca industry in the country with an initial funding P100 million for the establishment of a nursery in Sogod, Southern Leyte, to serve the needs of farmers in the islands of Leyte and Samar.
"I have also committed a P50-million fund for the establishment of an abaca nursery and research center in Kidapawan City to serve the needs of farmers in the Central Mindanao area including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao," Piñol added.
Expansion areas identified are Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Luzon, Panay Island, Palawan and Mindoro.
