Kiko raises alarm over 'cocolisap' infestation in Basilan

ISABELA CITY, Basilan - Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Secretary Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan was alarmed on Friday over the massive infestation of the coconut scale insect, locally known as "cocolisap" in Basilan.

Pangilinan personally visited the island province to see the situation and called on the government leaders, stakeholders and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to conduct a widespread approach against the destructive cocolisap infestation.

The PCA noted that a total of 814,712 coconut trees have been destroyed by the pests in three years since 2012 when the cocolisap was initially detected in one of the villages of Isabela City. The infestation quickly spread to seven municipalities out of the 13 towns in Basilan.

The PCA has adopted mitigating measures but failed since the coconut farmers did not follow the protocols of pest management.

“Obviously there were gaps in the implementation of the pest management that is why we are correcting it. There was delay in the delivery of the needed chemicals,” Pangilinan said.

He said a similar situation was also experienced in the CALABARZON area but was immediately addressed and the spread of the cocolisap was effectively arrested.

However, Pangilinan cited other factors that contributed to the spread of cocolisap in Basilan due to the prolonged dry season unlike in CALABARZON. 

“We are optimistic with the area-wide integrated pest management mobilizing down to the grassroots with the support of the local and provincial government we will be able to defeat this and bring this down to manageable level,” Pangilinan said. 

Pangilinan said the government will allocate the necessary funding in defeating the infestation of the cocolisap.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman estimated that more than P4 billion pesos have been lost in three years since the infestation started in 2012.

Hataman said the loses might vary since effects are just being felt on other areas.

Isabela City Mayor Cherrylyn Santos-Akbar said at least 23 barangays with coconut plantations in her city have been infested by the cocolisap and could not be recovered anymore.

“Most of the infested trees cannot be saved anymore and it’s really big loses considering most of the people here are just relying on coconut industry,” Akbar said.

However, Hataman said the infestation has also opened the opportunity for farmers not to depend on mono-cropping alone.

Hataman said the regional office is prepared to extend immediate intervention in the inter-cropping to add to the income of the affected farmers.

“This is a lesson learned and opportunity for us to convince our constituents that we can not be dependent on mono-cropping like the coconut,” Hataman said. 

The approach should be integrated also to quickly address the infestation, Hataman added.