COCONUT FARMERS ARE STILL DOWNBEAT DESPITE AMERICAN TARIFF REPRIEVE

COCONUT FARMERS ARE STILL DOWNBEAT DESPITE AMERICAN TARIFF REPRIEVE At first glance, the American tariff reprieve on Philippine coconut products sounds like very good news. The United States removed the 19-percent reciprocal tariff on coconut oil, desiccated coconut, coconut water, and other coconut products. Exporters cheered. Headlines celebrated. On paper, this should be a major boost for our coconut industry. Yet on the ground, many coconut farmers remain downbeat. Why? Because regardless of whether American tariffs go up or down, the deeper problem remains: Philippine coconut products and their by-products are still not competitive in the way that truly benefits farmers. Farmgate prices are still painfully low. Even if exporters earn more abroad, many farmers continue selling copra at depressed prices dictated by traders and middlemen. The gap between export profits and farmer income remains wide. Tariff relief in Washington does not automatically translate into higher buying prices in the barangay. Then there is policy uncertainty at home. Farmers are now worried about the proposed Murang Langis Act, which could weaken or even end the coco-biodiesel mandate. For years, biodiesel blending has provided one of the few stable domestic markets for coconut oil. If that safety net is removed, farmers will again be left at the mercy of volatile global prices. Why remove one of the few programs that actually created steady local demand? Another major issue is export dependence. Yes, the U.S. is a big market. But relying too heavily on foreign markets makes our farmers extremely vulnerable. A single policy shift, trade war, or recession abroad can wipe out gains overnight. Food and farm security should never rest on foreign goodwill alone. But for me, the biggest and most ignored problem is product development. We are still trapped in the low-value copra economy. Copra is a raw, low-value product. There is only so much money you can make from it. And even if tariffs abroad are reduced, if your product remains cheap and basic, your profit margins will never significantly improve. High-value products, not just low tariffs, are what create real income. Look at what coconut can become: virgin coconut oil, functional food ingredients, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, pharmaceutical inputs, coco sugar, specialty food products, bio-packaging, even medical-grade oils. But how many small farmers have access to these value chains? Very few. So who should be responsible for real product development? Should we leave that task to the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Coconut Authority alone? Or should we actively involve the Department of Science and Technology for research and processing technology, and the Department of Trade and Industry for branding, packaging, and market access? In my opinion, we should even give strong incentives to big Filipino companies — names like SMC, RFM, and other major manufacturers — to invest in high-value coconut processing. If they can transform corn, sugar, oil palm, and packaging industries, why not coconuts at scale? Let them partner with cooperatives. Let them modernize the value chain. Let farmers become suppliers of premium raw materials — not just cheap copra. We must also face another uncomfortable reality: many coconut trees are already old. Yields are declining. Replanting has been slow, uneven, and underfunded. Without aggressive replanting and farm modernization, even perfect trade policies will fail. So yes, the American tariff exemption is welcome. It makes our exports slightly more competitive. But let us not fool ourselves. The benefits mostly flow to exporters and large processors, not to the small farmers who actually grow the coconuts. If we truly want coconut farmers to become optimistic again, we need more than tariff relief. We need: fair and transparent farmgate pricing, protection of stable domestic markets like biodiesel, massive replanting and productivity programs, and serious investment in value-added product development. Until we fix what is broken at home, no amount of good news from abroad will lift the mood of Filipino coconut farmers. And that, sadly, is why they are still downbeat. RAMON IKE V. SENERES www.facebook.com/ike.seneres iseneres@yahoo.com senseneres.blogspot.com 09088877282/10-09-2026