Coconut farmers are seen to reap huge benefits amid findings that virgin coconut oil (VCO) could prevent or reduce infections from the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19), Sen. Francis Pangilinan predicted Tuesday.
“The good news is that coco farmers’ poverty can be cured with VCO as Covid cure,’” the senator said, citing “promising results of the research on the effectiveness of compounds from virgin coconut oil as antiviral agents to prevent or reduce Covid-19 infections.”
Pangilinan pointed out that recent research bankrolled by the Department of Science and Technology found that “compounds from coconut oil and VCO decreased coronavirus count by 60 percent to 90 percent at low viral load after six months of conducting experiments.”
The lawmaker likewise cited the DOST’s discovery that “compounds in VCO were observed to improve cell survival.”
In a statement made partly in Filipino, he acknowledged this development as “good news for our ailing folks” as well as good news, too, “for our coconut farmers.”
The senator suggested, however, that “more experiments” are still needed to determine whether higher concentrations of these compounds will further reduce the replication rate of the virus.
He noted that the Philippines, “as one of the top coconut producers in the world…has an abundance of resources, and all we have to do now is to harness it.”
Pangilinan proposed that the production and processing capacity of VCO “must be boosted in order to meet the demands of this potential antiviral agent.”
Moreover, he advised that now is the time to boost support for the coconut industry to mass produce VCO.
Pangilinan stressed it would also be a big help if Congress can pass into law the Coconut Trust Fund bill, saying: “Malaking tulong sana kung maisabatas na itong coco levy trust fund bill para mapakinabangan na at madagdagan ang kapasidad natin sa production.”
The Senate had already approved on third and final reading the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund, indicating readiness to hammer out a final version as soon as its counterpart bill is passed by the House of Representatives.
Once enacted into law, the enabling legislation, he added, will “create a mechanism on the utilization and disposition of the coco levy funds and assets, which were trapped in court disputes for many decades after the fall of the Marcos regime.”
Pangilinan pointed out that in 2018 the Philippines exported a total of 18,405.19 metric tons of VCO worth P63.92 million, citing a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). He added that the World Bank likewise listed the Philippines as the top coconut oil-producing country followed by Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Mexico in April 2020.