COCOLISAP INFESTATION SEEN
IN MAGUINDANAO, LANAO SUR
By Manny Piñol
Malabang, Lanao del Sur – It pays to venture to the countryside and pass through roads seldom traveled.
While passing through the towns of Matanog in Maguindanao and Kapatagan and Malabang, Lanao del Sur today enroute to Zamboanga City from Kidapawan City in North Cotabato, I saw an alarming rate of Cocolisap or Coconut Scale Insect infestation in the coconut farms along the Narciso Ramos Highway.
Judging by the damage of the Cocolisap on the coconut leaves, my estimate is that the infestation could have started over a year ago.
The last time I passed through this lonely stretch of road which goes through the stronghold of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was in May 2016, right after the Presidential elections.
This was never reported by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) officials.
Had I not taken the 8-hour land trip from Cotabato to Zamboanga City today, this infestation would never be reported until it is too late to save the coconuts.
This was the same story behind the devastation of the coconut industry in Basilan Island.
Previous PCA officials already knew of the infestation but they did not act on it.
Unchecked, the Cocolisap destroyed about 5 million coconuts in Basilan and spread to other parts of Mindanao.
Now, it is present in the boundaries of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.
Somebody will have to answer for this negligence.
Heads will roll, I promise!
(I personally took the photos of the coconuts affected by Cocolisap using my mobile phone. Last photo taken by Joey Razonable the police mobile team members who escorted me from Maguindanao to Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte)
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