4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino "Nonoy" Libanan (Facebook)

House Minority Leader 4PS Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan has filed two separate bills in the effort to establish two new state-run coconut oil milling and refinery plants in Eastern Samar. 

Libanan’s House Bill (HB) No. 10834 proposes to put up the Eastern Samar Coconut Oil Milling and Refinery Plant in the Municipality of Sulat, while his HB No. 10849 seeks to set up the South Eastern Samar Coconut Oil Milling and Refinery Plant in the Municipality of Quinapondan. 

The proposed new government coconut oil refineries are meant to boost the productivity and income of local farmers. 

The two plants would process raw coconuts into refined oil and other high-value coconut-based products for the domestic and foreign markets. 

“We are counting on the facilities to enhance the value-added processing of coconut products, create employment, stimulate the economies of Eastern Samar and nearby provinces, and to eventually help alleviate poverty,” Libanan said. 

“They are also expected to contribute in a big way to the national economy by boosting up the country’s exports of refined coconut oil,” he added. 

Coconut oil is one of the country’s top commodity exports. The country exported $1.115 billion worth of crude and refined coconut oil from January to July 2024, up 58.5 percent, or $411 million, from $704 million in the same seven-month period in 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). 

As proposed by Libanan, the Department of Agriculture (DA), through the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), would oversee the establishment, operation, and management of the new mills and refineries. 

Funding for the projects would be chargeable against the current appropriations of the DA and the PCA. 

The two plants would enjoy the income tax holiday for five years. They would also be exempt from customs duties and national taxes on their importation of capital equipment, raw materials, and other operating inputs. 

Finally, they would have priority access to credit facilities offered by government financial institutions. 

Coconut oil is extensively used around the world in baking industries, processed foods, infant formula, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, among others applications. The oil is produced by crushing copra, the dried coconut kernel, which contains approximately 65 percent of the oil. 

Libanan represented Eastern Samar’s lone district in Congress for nine years from 1998 to 2007, and served as vice governor from 1992 to 1995.