LUCENA CITY—Sixty-eight hectares are now ready for planting of Jatropha curcas in barangay Mapulot, Tagkawayan, Quezon province, after a site inspection and validation have been conducted by a technical support unit for the provincewide jatropha project launched by Gov. Raffy Nantes.

The governor has signed the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for planting of the biofuel plant with the Land Bank of the Philippines and Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuel Corp. covering 100,000 hectares of idle lands in the entire province.

During his State of the Province Address on July 28, Nantes revealed that about 78,000 hectares in the province have already been identified for the jatropha plantation project, which involved about 37,400 cooperative members.

Under the MOA, only cooperative members are allowed to participate in the jatropha project, which provides P43,000 loan per hectare for the planting of jatropha. The MOA provides P4.3 billion for the entire project, which would be extended to P5 billion, according to Nantes.

The Quezon Jatropha Development Board (QJDB), chaired by Nantes, said that two hectares have been established for a jatropha nursery in barangay Malupak, Lucban.

Andres Abary Jr., team leader of the technical support unit for jatropha project, said the 68 hectares is part of the 232 hectares already planted to various species of trees like mahogany, lawaan, tanguile, apitong and others.

The 300 hectares is under the community-based forest management of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the area and is being undertaken by 53 members of Mapulot Community Resources Development Association Inc. (MCRDAI).

Tagkawayan is allotted with 10,000 hectares for the planting of jatropha.

Diomedes Esmas, president of MCRDAI, said the group decided to join the jatropha plantation project of the governor to augment their members’ income.

At present, the group is coordinating with QJDB for the issuance of its certificate of accreditation so their members can file for their loan application with the LandBank.

The jatropha plantation project is one of the big-ticket projects of Nantes designed to uplift the economic condition of the Quezon farmers and to pursue the provincial government’s participation in the biofuel production program being promoted by the national government to reduce dependence on costly imported oil.

ODA loans up by 3% to $9.747B in 2007

OFFICIAL development assistance (ODA) loans extended to the country have increased slightly by 3 percent to $9.747 billion in 2007, according to the latest ODA Portfolio Review released by the Project Monitoting Staff of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Bullish BPOs in RP considering raising equity fund for expansion

BUSINESS-process outsourcing (BPO) firms in the country are so bullish on their growth prospects that most of them are now considering generating equity funding through various means to support their expansion plans, a survey conducted by the Outsource2Philippines (O2P) and the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) revealed.

Newport City in Pasay declared tourism ecozone

THE government has declared the 24.5-hectare Newport City Tourism Zone in Pasay City a tourism economic zone, allowing its project proponent Megaworld Corp. and future locators to enjoy tax incentives.

DOT revives holiday camping destination proposal for Sacobia

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Luzon has revived its proposal to transform a portion of the 5,724-hectare Sacobia Valley in the Bamban, Tarlac and Mabalacat, Pampanga, area into a camping holiday destination.

NFA eyes more buying stations for palay during main harvest

THE National Food Authority (NFA) plans to set up additional buying stations in major rice-producing areas during the main harvest to ensure that the attached agency under the Department of Agriculture (DA) would be able to buy its target of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of palay.

Atienza orders review of lease agreements in Bukidnon

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza has ordered a review of six lease agreements covering some 3,000 hectares of lands in Bukidnon for alleged violations of the terms and conditions set forth in the Forest Land Grazing Lease Agreements (FLGLAs).

Quezon governor pursues jatropha project in Tagkawayan town

LUCENA CITY—Sixty-eight hectares are now ready for planting of Jatropha curcas in barangay Mapulot, Tagkawayan, Quezon province, after a site inspection and validation have been conducted by a technical support unit for the provincewide jatropha project launched by Gov. Raffy Nantes.