BACKBENCHER
Rod Kapunan
7/16-17/2011
The people have often referred the Supreme Court as the court of last resort. Their reference to it is not really for what it means, but more importantly that they expect it to resolve their disputes with finality.
But in the recent ruling of the country’s most controversial land case, the Supreme Court instead created issues, thereby reopening old wounds which the parties believe could have been by their submission to its the jurisdiction. Such was the case of Hacienda Luisita. Instead of resolving the issues, it ordered the re-holding of a referendum. For that the highly politicized Supreme
Court practically acted like Pontius Pilate. By the washing of its hands, it threw back the problem to the litigants.
As pointed out by many, had it simplified the problem by taking cognizance of the original agreement to distribute the lands to the tenants after 20 years —as the hacienda overlords promised with the GSIS when they obtained the loan to purchase their property from Tabacalera, a promise which has now been translated to a decision by then Tarlac Judge Bernardo Pardo—the problem could have been a closed case by now.
Rather, the Supreme Court’s order for the owners of the 2 healed 6,443 hectares Hacienda Luisita to conduct another referendum to an estimated 6,296 farm workers on whether they favor land distribution or stick to their old decision in favor of a stock distribution option (SDO), became another of its infamous decisions.
It was political rather than a judicial decision to scrap the result of the referendum in 1990 where the farm workers of Hacienda Luisita already voted in favor of SDO instead of a piece of land they could till as their own.
It was irregular because there was no allegation of fraud for the court to validly set aside the result of the earlier referendum. All that was raised by those who were against the giving of those worthless SDOs is it did not improve their economic condition. Effectively, the decision ignored the real issues that the giving of stocks as substitute to land reform was unconstitutional and illegal.
It will not even suffice for the Supreme Court to reopen the case on the ground that those who voted in favor of SDO changed their mind. Unless and until the earlier referendum was characterized by massive fraud resulting in their being shortchanged, the decision by the alleged majority could no longer be disturbed. As the saying goes, they have to swallow the bitter pill of their own decision.
But having immersed itself deeply in politics, the Supreme Court derailed the case altogether. Instead of rectifying the issues, it validated an option not found in the constitution.
The people expected the Supreme Court, as the final interpreter of the Constitution and of the laws, to declare Republic Act No. 66573 as unconstitutional. To paradoxically restate what that “tantrumatic” Senator Miriam Santiago said to PCSO chairwomen Margie Juico, all that was needed was for one to know how to read, and literally he could rightly interpret the Constitution beginning with the elementary procedure of looking for that word “stocks” in the provision.
Up to now people wonder how the Supreme Court voted to the idea of reholding another referendum when there is nothing in Section 4, Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution which says about stock distribution. Instead of striking out R.A. No. 6657 as unconstitutional, it rode on the crest of a questionable law enacted by highly partisan pro-Aquino followers who stupidly inserted stocks as an option to land reform.
The justices too, had their amnesia that the whole concept of agrarian reform is focused on how to redistribute the agricultural lands to the tillers of the soil, which has become a mandate after it was incorporated into the Constitution. Even if the legality of the SDO was not directly raised, it was its emblematic judicial duty, or as lawyers would put it muto proprio, to annul the agreement, it being rooted on an unconstitutional law.
Critics also argue that the prime portions of the hacienda had already been converted to an industrial park; that a mall had already been constructed; and that an exclusive hideaway subdivision complete with an 18 hole golf course and a country club had been built. This has effectively reduced the original land area to 4,915 hectares with the Supreme Court arbitrarily reducing it further to 44,334.55 hectares without elaborating whether this is the area what would be subjected for referendum. In other words, the farmers were all left out in the sharing of the proceeds of those portions that were sold.
The question is, if ordinary land owners are prohibited from selling in whole or in part the property which is the subject of land reform, then how come the owners of Hacienda Luisita were allowed to dispose those prime portions of the land leaving those considered of less value to be included in the referendum?
Assuming they could no longer be recovered, still the Supreme Court failed to order the accounting of the proceeds in the sale of those prime portions of the hacienda to give the aggrieved farmers the cash equivalent of what they lost. It cannot be denied that aside from having acted in bad faith, the owners of the hacienda managed to rake, and continue to rake in, much profit from the sale and lease of their properties now classified as out of reach for land distribution or for partnership with the farmers through that much-hooted SDO.
Indeed the decision has given the public clarity on how the magistrates acted miserably; that they could not be wrong in accusing them of playing footsy with politics. the judgment was not on how to realign the issues with what the law provides, but on something that would ensure their future accommodation with the President. ingratiate themselves as a bounty awaits them after retirement.
(rodkap@yahoo.com.ph)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Quezon City CoA-llusion?
DIE HARD III
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/15/2011
Quezon City, a premier metropolis, is also a city of mysteries. When the previous city administration ended its reign, it boasted of a P6.5-billion budget surplus. Its former mayor, a staunch pillar of the previous regime — now vilified to the hilt — has moved on anew to become Speaker of the House under the supposedly rival political faction of BSA III.
Similarly, the previous mayor’s city administrator also moved to higher places, i.e., the Office of the Executive Secretary in Malacañang. But just a few months after a new administration was voted in, the city council is already proposing to raise new taxes, leaving Quezon City residents scratching their heads, asking, “What happened to the reported budget surplus and savings of P6.5 billion?” Unfortunately, the new city mayor can only reply with another query: “What budget surplus and savings? We are in deficit!”
The former mayor, Sonny Belmonte, has not said a word on the questions raised; neither has his city administrator. Quezon City residents went to city hall to attend one of the sessions of the city council, officially raising questions on the whereabouts of the budget surplus propagandists of Belmonte, as well as to protest the proposed 1-percent real estate tax increase for so-called “housing projects.”
Such increases will naturally raise new needless billions from the city’s citizens, who know full well that these city councilors each enjoy an annual P43-million pork barrel, which will never be properly accounted for. Yet, despite the citizens’ opposition, these city councilors are pursuing it with shameless determination, apparently confident that nothing but nothing can stop them — not even the citizens’ threat to raise such questions of their “pork barrel” and the “lost surpluses” in the proper forum.
Citizens are therefore asking what exactly is happening in Quezon City that it can be so smug to the inquiries and how so huge an anomaly as the missing P6.5-billion surplus can be swept under the rug. To understand this, one has to look at the “new” city hall. There may be a new mayor but he is all but powerless against the old regime, which continues its tight grip over the city.
The current vice mayor is Belmonte’s daughter. The city administrator today used to be city treasurer under him as well while the old cabal around him then is still in control. Corruption there is neatly worked out, with everyone in the loop allegedly approving papers; and with councilors, congressmen, and city officials concerned allegedly getting their share of whatever allotted portions there are. But how do these graft activities get around the rules designed to check corruption? We’ll have to look at the Commission on Audit (CoA) auditors.
For sordid graft activities in an institution to thrive, it is inevitable that the CoA officials assigned are also in collusion. Examining who the auditors are in the city today sheds light on what’s going on in the city administration. Plus, to understand Quezon City today requires a thorough review of the historic scandals in Philippine government, such as the Gen. Carlos Garcia Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) logistics plunder case that shocked the nation, which led to the shameful “suicide” of Gen. Angelo Reyes.
Details of plunder operations exposed by former AFP budget officer and now whistle-blower Maj. George Rabusa by way of his plunder case against three CoA auditors assigned previously to the AFP, among them Manuel Warren, Arturo Besana and Crisanto Gabriel, show that the three allegedly received bribes amounting to P69 million, P26.4 million and P58 million, respectively. And while the rest have been “frozen,” one of them has even been “promoted.”
State auditor Warren, who was alleged to have received the biggest amount, was reactivated and transferred to Quezon City Hall. This contradicts an earlier position of the CoA chief, Grace Pulido-Tan, who correctly preferred to “freeze” the accused state auditors. A change of heart reportedly occurred only after she was called into a meeting in Malacañang.
What happened in the supposed meeting, no one really knows, but one of the “most guilty” auditors charged in that AFP plunder case was in fact reactivated, and to Quezon City Hall at that. Tan’s confirmation as CoA chief was reportedly opposed, but apparently Tan’s stay has been prolonged. Has there been a quid pro quo?
Quezon City Hall is a nest of graft and corruption. If its resident CoA auditor will have a questionable reputation, then QC’s citizens can be assured that the rats will play. Is the CoA in collusion or is it going to help save the city and its citizens from the continuing rapacity of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats?
Let’s see if Grace Pulido-Tan can overcome fears of the old Quezon City mafia and help clean up the country’s premier metropolis by ending the “CoA-llusion” there.
(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “Franchising: Hope for Economic Recovery”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/15/2011
Quezon City, a premier metropolis, is also a city of mysteries. When the previous city administration ended its reign, it boasted of a P6.5-billion budget surplus. Its former mayor, a staunch pillar of the previous regime — now vilified to the hilt — has moved on anew to become Speaker of the House under the supposedly rival political faction of BSA III.
Similarly, the previous mayor’s city administrator also moved to higher places, i.e., the Office of the Executive Secretary in Malacañang. But just a few months after a new administration was voted in, the city council is already proposing to raise new taxes, leaving Quezon City residents scratching their heads, asking, “What happened to the reported budget surplus and savings of P6.5 billion?” Unfortunately, the new city mayor can only reply with another query: “What budget surplus and savings? We are in deficit!”
The former mayor, Sonny Belmonte, has not said a word on the questions raised; neither has his city administrator. Quezon City residents went to city hall to attend one of the sessions of the city council, officially raising questions on the whereabouts of the budget surplus propagandists of Belmonte, as well as to protest the proposed 1-percent real estate tax increase for so-called “housing projects.”
Such increases will naturally raise new needless billions from the city’s citizens, who know full well that these city councilors each enjoy an annual P43-million pork barrel, which will never be properly accounted for. Yet, despite the citizens’ opposition, these city councilors are pursuing it with shameless determination, apparently confident that nothing but nothing can stop them — not even the citizens’ threat to raise such questions of their “pork barrel” and the “lost surpluses” in the proper forum.
Citizens are therefore asking what exactly is happening in Quezon City that it can be so smug to the inquiries and how so huge an anomaly as the missing P6.5-billion surplus can be swept under the rug. To understand this, one has to look at the “new” city hall. There may be a new mayor but he is all but powerless against the old regime, which continues its tight grip over the city.
The current vice mayor is Belmonte’s daughter. The city administrator today used to be city treasurer under him as well while the old cabal around him then is still in control. Corruption there is neatly worked out, with everyone in the loop allegedly approving papers; and with councilors, congressmen, and city officials concerned allegedly getting their share of whatever allotted portions there are. But how do these graft activities get around the rules designed to check corruption? We’ll have to look at the Commission on Audit (CoA) auditors.
For sordid graft activities in an institution to thrive, it is inevitable that the CoA officials assigned are also in collusion. Examining who the auditors are in the city today sheds light on what’s going on in the city administration. Plus, to understand Quezon City today requires a thorough review of the historic scandals in Philippine government, such as the Gen. Carlos Garcia Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) logistics plunder case that shocked the nation, which led to the shameful “suicide” of Gen. Angelo Reyes.
Details of plunder operations exposed by former AFP budget officer and now whistle-blower Maj. George Rabusa by way of his plunder case against three CoA auditors assigned previously to the AFP, among them Manuel Warren, Arturo Besana and Crisanto Gabriel, show that the three allegedly received bribes amounting to P69 million, P26.4 million and P58 million, respectively. And while the rest have been “frozen,” one of them has even been “promoted.”
State auditor Warren, who was alleged to have received the biggest amount, was reactivated and transferred to Quezon City Hall. This contradicts an earlier position of the CoA chief, Grace Pulido-Tan, who correctly preferred to “freeze” the accused state auditors. A change of heart reportedly occurred only after she was called into a meeting in Malacañang.
What happened in the supposed meeting, no one really knows, but one of the “most guilty” auditors charged in that AFP plunder case was in fact reactivated, and to Quezon City Hall at that. Tan’s confirmation as CoA chief was reportedly opposed, but apparently Tan’s stay has been prolonged. Has there been a quid pro quo?
Quezon City Hall is a nest of graft and corruption. If its resident CoA auditor will have a questionable reputation, then QC’s citizens can be assured that the rats will play. Is the CoA in collusion or is it going to help save the city and its citizens from the continuing rapacity of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats?
Let’s see if Grace Pulido-Tan can overcome fears of the old Quezon City mafia and help clean up the country’s premier metropolis by ending the “CoA-llusion” there.
(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “Franchising: Hope for Economic Recovery”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com and http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Use your "coconut"
CONSUMER'S DEMAND
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/11-17/2011
The recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling granting Danding Cojuangco “legitimate” ownership of 45 percent of that 47-percent share (or 20 percent, in total) of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), worth around P70 billion, does nothing to negate the fact that Cojuangco sourced the money for “his” shares from UCPB (United Coconut Planters Bank), the bank set up with “coconut levy” funds.
The market value of SMC, the country’s second largest corporation, is valued at $8 billion, with shares sourced from the funds of the coconut levy constituting around 47 percent of the conglomerate.
Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile supports Cojuangco’s claim saying “The 20 percent was bought by Danding and they borrowed money from the United Coconut Planters Bank.
“Where that money came from, I do not know because when the bank lends money, it does not identify the money that is used for lending.” That’s technical gibberish.
Enrile, like Ed Angara, Frank Drilon, and the late Raul Roco of the ACCRA Law office then, facilitated Cojuangco’s channeling of the coco levy funds to his projects
Never Brought to Trial
What Filipinos have not been made aware of is the fact that the Cojuangco coco levy issue was never brought to trial and subjected to a bona fide examination of facts.
What the SC decision dealt with were only questions of law and a debate on definitions. The funding from the coconut farmers’ coco levy of UCPB as well as the use of Cojuangco’s political clout to launder this and place it under his name, stripping the fund of its original purpose, all didn’t matter.
As the multibillion litigation stretched over 25 years, the coconut industry has starved for investment and funds for expanding and developing the country’s coconut stock in all that time.
Here, the fundamental issue is a moral one: How can one man cause so much deprivation on an industry that 25 million Filipinos depend on? Thus, the struggle for justice isn’t over.
Coconut farmers and citizens are escalating the fight to media as we speak.
Coco Shaving
Last July 6, scores of coconut farmers from all over the country converged on the Quezon Memorial Circle’s Coconut House to infuse new blood into a continuing protest movement.
It kicked off with a “coconut shaving,” or a head-shaving in front of the country’s media, which I will also do to myself on my Global News Network program on July 12 with other coconut farmers, including female coconut leaders like Ka Cita Esmao, while discussing the coco levy issue.
The move is symbolic of the nation’s protest against such blatant greed and conspiracy by different factions of the ruling class at the expense of millions of Filipinos.
It would thus do our 95 million Filipinos good if they could sharpen their insights and use their “coconuts” in crystallizing the main issue that bedevils the life and progress of this nation -- the injustice, abuse, and exploitation of the present ruling class.
Beyond this, Filipinos, too, must become aware of their power as consumers and literally use their coconuts in fighting off the oligarchs to save our national economy.
‘Buko’ Power
Value-wise, Philippine coconut exports, amounting to 900,000 tons a year, could reach $1.5 billion at today’s world market prices.
But with conscious and deliberate promotion of the local use of the coconut’s abundant nutriceutical, pharmaceutical and industrial properties, its economic value could increase by at least fivefold.
Take for instance the so-called “sports drinks” available in the market.
If you’re still one of those gulping down such known brands as Gatorade or Powerade, thinking that you’re doing your health a favor, think again.
You are merely being taken for a ride by the advertising industry and its corporate clients who all peddle such drinks containing “junk ingredients including high fructose corn syrup, artificial dyes, and some other things” as one sports evaluator said.
Like Big Pharma’s fraudulent vaccine and drugs claims, these sports drinks are similar frauds slowly being exposed in the US. But how is this related to our coconuts?
Simple. Those major brands are now shifting to the use of coconut water --or buko-- as their main ingredient.
Powerade’s maker, Coca-Cola, is now sourcing coconut water from Quezon and setting up a plant in Mindanao, following a similar move by Pepsi-Cola’s Gatorade.
Evidently, these two giants are tapping the desiccated coconut plants that used to just discard coconut water after extracting meat and oil from coconuts.
Still, these plants consume only 10 percent of the total coconuts produced in the country.
Boost to Economy
Filipino consumers should thus quit paying up to P30 for such sports drinks and just take to natural buko straight from the nut. It’ll go a long way in boosting the national economy.
My household consumes at least 20 coconuts a week, which I buy from my Mandaluyong suki for P17 each. Elsewhere, I know they’re around P20 to P25 a piece. You can easily arrange with the many neighborhood vendors to deliver them right to your doorstep.
Last time I visited “the best SC Chief Justice this country never had (yet),” Law Professor Alan Paguia, I overheard his wife Pilar mentioning an anti-dandruff brand they were going to buy.
I sprang from my seat and told them to use virgin coconut oil (VCO) instead, which worked wonders for my scalp a decade ago.
Aside from not having that dandruff problem ever since, I still have jet black hair for the most part at my not-so-young age (60) even as the rest of my nine siblings are already dying theirs. One pure VCO brand, Nature’s Gift, is the cheapest so far. It costs 25 percent less than other brands and is found mainly in Chinese drugstores.
Dairy Substitute
What’s more? VCO is still one of the best options for overall health, weight loss, IRS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), candida, thyroid problems, aching joints, diabetes, and a host of other health issues. Why, I even cured my warts, which had been growing around my neck and shoulders, with it.
And, lest we forget, coconuts are an abundant source of milk. With over 300 million coconut trees --every 20 trees of which can equal a cow’s annual milk production -- we can end the $1-billion importation of dairy products from other countries and save valuable foreign currency.
On the industrial front, coconut charcoal is still the unequalled filter medium while coconut coir is still the required material by markets such as China for their 100 million mattresses produced each year.
Re-Green
Meanwhile, coconut fiber is now the choice material for geo-textiles to help prevent soil erosion as well as reclaim and re-green “desertified” areas.
Finally, the use of coconut oil-based detergents and personal care products will not only help our coconut industry and the national economy, but will greatly reduce the chemical pollution that causes many of our society’s health and social problems.
Government leadership, for perfecting such technologies, same with quality upgrade and marketing of these coconut products, will definitely boost every Filipino’s economic prospects.
Next time you reach out for a thirst quencher after a round of badminton or basketball, try looking for fresh buko from your neighborhood vendor instead of a commercial brand.
If there’s none around, make sure you talk to the one you see making his route nearest you to pass by your sports center or home. That creates the ripple that will reverberate through the entire economy.
Do your part and use your coconut.
(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “Heads Up for Coconut Farmers”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus select radio and GNN shows)
Herman Tiu Laurel
7/11-17/2011
The recent Supreme Court (SC) ruling granting Danding Cojuangco “legitimate” ownership of 45 percent of that 47-percent share (or 20 percent, in total) of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), worth around P70 billion, does nothing to negate the fact that Cojuangco sourced the money for “his” shares from UCPB (United Coconut Planters Bank), the bank set up with “coconut levy” funds.
The market value of SMC, the country’s second largest corporation, is valued at $8 billion, with shares sourced from the funds of the coconut levy constituting around 47 percent of the conglomerate.
Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile supports Cojuangco’s claim saying “The 20 percent was bought by Danding and they borrowed money from the United Coconut Planters Bank.
“Where that money came from, I do not know because when the bank lends money, it does not identify the money that is used for lending.” That’s technical gibberish.
Enrile, like Ed Angara, Frank Drilon, and the late Raul Roco of the ACCRA Law office then, facilitated Cojuangco’s channeling of the coco levy funds to his projects
Never Brought to Trial
What Filipinos have not been made aware of is the fact that the Cojuangco coco levy issue was never brought to trial and subjected to a bona fide examination of facts.
What the SC decision dealt with were only questions of law and a debate on definitions. The funding from the coconut farmers’ coco levy of UCPB as well as the use of Cojuangco’s political clout to launder this and place it under his name, stripping the fund of its original purpose, all didn’t matter.
As the multibillion litigation stretched over 25 years, the coconut industry has starved for investment and funds for expanding and developing the country’s coconut stock in all that time.
Here, the fundamental issue is a moral one: How can one man cause so much deprivation on an industry that 25 million Filipinos depend on? Thus, the struggle for justice isn’t over.
Coconut farmers and citizens are escalating the fight to media as we speak.
Coco Shaving
Last July 6, scores of coconut farmers from all over the country converged on the Quezon Memorial Circle’s Coconut House to infuse new blood into a continuing protest movement.
It kicked off with a “coconut shaving,” or a head-shaving in front of the country’s media, which I will also do to myself on my Global News Network program on July 12 with other coconut farmers, including female coconut leaders like Ka Cita Esmao, while discussing the coco levy issue.
The move is symbolic of the nation’s protest against such blatant greed and conspiracy by different factions of the ruling class at the expense of millions of Filipinos.
It would thus do our 95 million Filipinos good if they could sharpen their insights and use their “coconuts” in crystallizing the main issue that bedevils the life and progress of this nation -- the injustice, abuse, and exploitation of the present ruling class.
Beyond this, Filipinos, too, must become aware of their power as consumers and literally use their coconuts in fighting off the oligarchs to save our national economy.
‘Buko’ Power
Value-wise, Philippine coconut exports, amounting to 900,000 tons a year, could reach $1.5 billion at today’s world market prices.
But with conscious and deliberate promotion of the local use of the coconut’s abundant nutriceutical, pharmaceutical and industrial properties, its economic value could increase by at least fivefold.
Take for instance the so-called “sports drinks” available in the market.
If you’re still one of those gulping down such known brands as Gatorade or Powerade, thinking that you’re doing your health a favor, think again.
You are merely being taken for a ride by the advertising industry and its corporate clients who all peddle such drinks containing “junk ingredients including high fructose corn syrup, artificial dyes, and some other things” as one sports evaluator said.
Like Big Pharma’s fraudulent vaccine and drugs claims, these sports drinks are similar frauds slowly being exposed in the US. But how is this related to our coconuts?
Simple. Those major brands are now shifting to the use of coconut water --or buko-- as their main ingredient.
Powerade’s maker, Coca-Cola, is now sourcing coconut water from Quezon and setting up a plant in Mindanao, following a similar move by Pepsi-Cola’s Gatorade.
Evidently, these two giants are tapping the desiccated coconut plants that used to just discard coconut water after extracting meat and oil from coconuts.
Still, these plants consume only 10 percent of the total coconuts produced in the country.
Boost to Economy
Filipino consumers should thus quit paying up to P30 for such sports drinks and just take to natural buko straight from the nut. It’ll go a long way in boosting the national economy.
My household consumes at least 20 coconuts a week, which I buy from my Mandaluyong suki for P17 each. Elsewhere, I know they’re around P20 to P25 a piece. You can easily arrange with the many neighborhood vendors to deliver them right to your doorstep.
Last time I visited “the best SC Chief Justice this country never had (yet),” Law Professor Alan Paguia, I overheard his wife Pilar mentioning an anti-dandruff brand they were going to buy.
I sprang from my seat and told them to use virgin coconut oil (VCO) instead, which worked wonders for my scalp a decade ago.
Aside from not having that dandruff problem ever since, I still have jet black hair for the most part at my not-so-young age (60) even as the rest of my nine siblings are already dying theirs. One pure VCO brand, Nature’s Gift, is the cheapest so far. It costs 25 percent less than other brands and is found mainly in Chinese drugstores.
Dairy Substitute
What’s more? VCO is still one of the best options for overall health, weight loss, IRS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), candida, thyroid problems, aching joints, diabetes, and a host of other health issues. Why, I even cured my warts, which had been growing around my neck and shoulders, with it.
And, lest we forget, coconuts are an abundant source of milk. With over 300 million coconut trees --every 20 trees of which can equal a cow’s annual milk production -- we can end the $1-billion importation of dairy products from other countries and save valuable foreign currency.
On the industrial front, coconut charcoal is still the unequalled filter medium while coconut coir is still the required material by markets such as China for their 100 million mattresses produced each year.
Re-Green
Meanwhile, coconut fiber is now the choice material for geo-textiles to help prevent soil erosion as well as reclaim and re-green “desertified” areas.
Finally, the use of coconut oil-based detergents and personal care products will not only help our coconut industry and the national economy, but will greatly reduce the chemical pollution that causes many of our society’s health and social problems.
Government leadership, for perfecting such technologies, same with quality upgrade and marketing of these coconut products, will definitely boost every Filipino’s economic prospects.
Next time you reach out for a thirst quencher after a round of badminton or basketball, try looking for fresh buko from your neighborhood vendor instead of a commercial brand.
If there’s none around, make sure you talk to the one you see making his route nearest you to pass by your sports center or home. That creates the ripple that will reverberate through the entire economy.
Do your part and use your coconut.
(Tune in to Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m., and Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m. on 1098AM; Talk News TV with HTL, Tuesday, 8 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11 p.m., on GNN, Destiny Cable Channel 8, on “Heads Up for Coconut Farmers”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus select radio and GNN shows)
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