GMA’s bum stomach triggers concern among Negrenses

For several hours, Negrenses viewed with concern TV reports on the reported bum stomach that landed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the St. Luke’s Medical Center. Talk in coffee shops until yesterday morning centered on what could have really caused the abdominal pain that hit her while she was with First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and other guests.

The assurances from her personal physician that it was nothing but an upset stomach allayed, to a certain extent, apprehensions on what could have possibly happened had it been a more serious medical accident.

In the local scene, though, the more serious topic that surfaced recently was the bioethanol bill and the Senate’s failure to approve the measure, postponing action on the measure till Congress reopens in July.

It may come as a surprise to most that the national meeting last Wednesday of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations (CONFED), chaired by president Reynaldo Bantug, devoted most of their time on discussing the bioethanol bill.

And the Confed board decided to help the National Ethanol Council in pushing the measure in the Senate, pointing out that it is imperative in the face of the continuing increases of oil prices and its impact on the national economy.

Sugar Regulatory Administrator James Ledesma pointed out that a 10 percent blend of ethanol with gasoline could save the country $35 billion in foreign exchange. But he also admitted that there is a need to clarify which government agency will be in charge of the alternative fuel program, especially ethanol.

The Department of Agriculture has jurisdiction over sugar production, while ethanol, as a power source, falls under the Department of Energy.

Thus, Ledesma admitted that many farmers remain hesitant in committing to this emerging food sector, and not as energy source.

Except for Tamlang Valley of Negros Oriental and the San Carlos area of Northern Negros Occidental, Ledesma said it may force Negros sugar farmers to make a major decision on ethanol production.

But that did not deter the Southern Negros Development Company (SONEDCO) of the Gokongwei family in Kabankalan City from tackling immediately their plan to put up a bioethanol plant in that southern Negros Occidental area.

But what stirred the attention of the Confed board of trustees was the report by SRA consultant Archie Amarra that some potential bioethanol investors were looking into the possibility of exporting the alternative fuel.

Developing trend

This prompted Luis Tongoy, chairman of the Negros-Panay chapter, to closely monitor reports of bioethanol production elsewhere in the region. And voila, there was the report that sugar-producing nations are increasingly using cane to produce ethanol as they seek new markets for the traditional crop as demand for renewable energy soars.

Associated Press quoted Peter Baron, president of the London-Based International Sugar Organization (ISO), as saying that 70 percent of worldwide ethanol production is now made from sugarcane.

He predicted that this trend will help keep sugar prices up. "You know we had a few years of very low sugar prices," Baron was quoted by the wire agency as saying.

Baron, who presided over an ISO meeting of about 200 representatives from a dozen countries, predicted that ethanol production will reach about 38.7 billion liters this year from 2005’s 33.6 billion.

Brazil remains the top ethanol producer from sugarcane. It has become a model for developing nations looking for better economic returns from their sugarcane crops while producing renewable fuel.

Incidentally, it was also reported that Cuba intends to produce 500 million liters of ethanol. And it was stated that despite the preferred rates for its oil imports from Venezuela, Cuba may find it profitable to produce ethanol from its sugarcane crops.

Cuba has been restructuring its sugar industry since 2002 and is upgrading its 11 ethanol plants, according to Luis Galvez of the Cuban Research Institute for Sugarcane derivatives.

Thailand granted support by Exim Bank

What may surprise Filipino and other foreign investors about ethanol in the region was the report that the Export-Import Bank of Thailand is preparing to support the growing demand for biofuel in that country, including contract farming ventures for Thai companies that have set up a supply chain in the region to support domestic factories.

The Bangkok Post-Knight Rider press agency quoted Narongchai Akrasanee, executive chairman of the Exim Bank, that the bank is prepared to offer financing for companies interested in expanding their supply chains and production to neighboring countries.

"This trend toward shifting production bases for biofuel (to neighboring countries) has only come about over the past two years as crude oil prices having increased," the Exim Bank official was quoted by the wire agency as saying.

Aside from supporting contract farming arrangements, the Exim Bank also wants to support other Thai industries in establishing factories overseas, particularly within the Indochina Peninsula.

That, to a certain extent, confirms the optimism by would-be ethanol investors on their plans to ship out ethanol should the local consumers fail to shift to the proposed five-percent fuel mix that the biofuel bill envisions or mandates during the first four years upon enactment.

But Ledesma, despite his preference for Negros to remain the sugar food hub, also pointed out that this should not deter sugar farmers in converting their production to ethanol.

That option to shift to either food or ethanol is something that has sort of discouraged investors in bioethanol from pushing through with their investment plans because they want to be assured a steady supply of source materials, not an on-and-off decision on what to do with one’s sugarcane produce.

Actually, the National Ethanol Council had already pinpointed several expansion areas for sugarcane for ethanol. These include Kalinga, Lanao del Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Masbate, Palawan, Bohol, Agusan, Maguindanao, South Cotabato, and Sarangani of Mindanao.

Other areas which had already discussed bioethanol production are Bukidnon and Davao in Mindanao, Ledesma said.

But, again, as earlier pointed out, much depends on the outcome of the Senate approval of the Biofuel National Program Bill.

The pressure for the upper chamber to accelerate action on the measure is building up, especially with the price of oil still on the uptrend.

Audit of CARP demanded

In Negros Island, the most touchy issue today is the snowballing drive for a through review and audit of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program before the proposed extension of the plan for another five years.

The Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by its president, Roberto Montelibano, issued their call for an immediate review as "very basic and necessary as this involves national interest."

Montelibano said the group is supporting the call of Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon for a serious assessment "to determine any program defect and device means to correct it, identify areas of satisfactory performance, and speed up or expand the implementation of the process that it is working perfectly."

The MBCCI also asked DAR to resolve the more than 60,000 cases pending before them. Most of these questions focus on just compensation for landowners. It also asked DAR to study how some beneficiaries are not uplifted socially and economically as many as the lands already awarded are not any more cultivated by the original beneficiaries.

Almost simultaneously, the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council of Negros Occidental unanimously passed a resolution asking President Arroyo to call for a comprehensive CARP assessment in view of the problems besetting its implementation.

"Until and unless these problems are addressed the solutions are proposed and put in place, there can be no real and effective industrial peace as a vehicle in promoting national growth, development and social justice," the council said through its chairman Reynaldo Novero Sr.

Actually, Speaker Jose de Venecia pointed out last week the need for a comprehensive review of CARP before Congress considers another extension of the program.

Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente Salceda of Bicol was quoted as saying that the acquisition of a domestic 500,000 hectares may be too difficult and expensive for the government, adding that there is a need to address the imbalance between CARP beneficiaries in agrarian reform communities and those outside.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel said that while there is a need for an extension, DAR should be able to make an inventory of the cost to the government of the land acquisition program. The successes and failures of CARP, he added, must also be evaluated before the extension to plug the gaps in the program.

For Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, he will agree to the extension "as long as GMA accounts for the missing P27 billion in Marcos funds."

But even Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., agriculture chairman of the Senate, reportedly described CARP as suffering from a "systemic framework problem."

SRA’s Ledesma pointed out that while he does not intend to comment on whether CARP has succeeded or not, he simply pointed out that "dividing the land in small parcels greatly affects the productivity of any plantation crop and runs counter to the implementation of CARP."

In short, the furor over CARP’s expansion has started to boil. And the Tripartite Council, which is also made up of workers themselves, has upped the discussion by throwing its support for a thorough evaluation of the program before acting on the extension plan.

That battle is on.