THE Sangguniang Panlalawigan agriculture committee chaired by Vice-Gov. Dionisio Victor A. Balite is inclined to approve the clearing of coconut debris that littered in the fields as a result of the super typhoon Odette on December 16, 2022.
But for meantime, the committee recommended for the “Philippine Coconut Authority to coordinate with the Provincial Legal Office for the revision of the Memorandum of Agreement draft to clearly define the obligations of the Provincial Government as the second party in the said MOA,” the committee report said.
This came following Gov. Erico Aristotle C. Aumentado requested for authority to represent the Provincial Government of Bohol and sign the said MOA between the PCA-Bohol and the Provincial Government of Bohol relative to the ongoing implementation of the Debris Management Program to clear the damaged coconut trees due to Typhoon Odette.
In the recent committee meeting, PCA’s Maria Elena G. Fabre cited Memorandum Circular No. 4, series of 2022 of the PCA, “the Debris Management Program of the PCA targets to clear a total of 841,500 fallen coconut trees brought about by Typhoon Odette” as basis of the clearing effort.
Fabre stressed that “time is of the essence considering that a decaying coconut tree is prone to infestation of the rhinoceros beetle and there is a possibility of an outbreak if clearing of these coconut trees is delayed further.”
However, the Committee found out that the obligations of the Provincial Government of Bohol as the second party as stipulated in the proposed MOA draft is not within the immediate capacity of the PGBh such as, the provision of chainsaws and mobilization of existing chainsaws owned by the affected municipalities
The assistance requested by the PCA is not only limited to the provision of chainsaws but to include the provision of personnel to man the clearing operations, which was also not indicated in the MOA draft, the committee report said
The request for assistance to PCA was prompted for lack of manpower and resources for the full implementation of the said program considering that their office only has seven (7) technicians/agriculturists on field.
PCA said that it has started the clearing operations in 16 municipalities out of the 48 municipalities in the province, with a rate of accomplishment only at 14% for shortage of manpower.
PCA has to do the clearing to achieve the target completion date within 9 months starting June 2022. (rvo)
