Man who built Azkals seeks Tacloban rebirth

MANILA, Philippines - The man who built the Philippine national men’s football team Azkals and sparked the revival of football in the country wants to help coconut farmers rebuild their lives a year after Super Typhoon Yolanda tore through Eastern Visayas and destroyed 90 percent of his hometown Tacloban City.

Dan Palami, businessman and Azkals team manager, has partnered with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to promote the planting of hybrid coconut trees in Tacloban City and other areas in Leyte hardest hit by the typhoon.

 In coordination with the DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), Palami’s foundation – the Center for the Development of Sustainable Communities for Social Progress – will transport hybrid coconut seedlings from the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA)’s vast tree farm and nursery in Zamboanga City to Tacloban.

“Hopefully this month, we will start planting hybrid coconut seedlings in Tacloban and other areas in Eastern Visayas affected by Yolanda,” Palami told The STAR.

“Countless coconut trees that were destroyed by the typhoon last year have not been replaced by small coconut farmers,” he added.

Palami said he will make available a six-hectare property he owns in Tacloban that can be used by the DOST to encourage small coconut farmers to plant the hybrid, high-yielding coconut variety developed by PCA researchers and scientists.

He said he would also adopt a technology developed by the PCA to process sugar and virgin coconut oil.

“This will really help the coconut farmers to improve their livelihood after Yolanda,” said Palami, whose family owns several businesses in Tacloban, such as a school and a bar.

DOST Secretary Mario Montejo has expressed support for the project.

The DOST said figures provided by the Visayas State University showed that more than 30 million coconut trees were destroyed when Yolanda struck the Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.

The hybrid coconut variety can yield more than 150 coconuts per tree annually, said PCAARRD executive director Patricio Faylon.

“This will greatly increase our coconut production. Right now, our average yield is around 40 nuts per tree. The hybrid coconut variety can yield more than 150 nuts. That’s more than triple the current yield,” Faylon told The STAR.

PCA director for research Ramon Rivera said the coconut seedlings will be given to the farmers for free.