MANILA, (PNA) — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has implemented a project called the Indigenous People Outreach Program (IPOP) which will benefit 1,447,972 indigenous people or a total of 35% of the total population of Region XII – SOCSARGEN.
The program involves provision of planting materials to the indigenous people (IP) and a cash incentive of twenty pesos (Php 20.00) per coconut seedling planted and growing or stabilized in the field.
“Social problems in the coconut industry are given more attention now by helping them [IP] liberate from poverty through coconut planting. It is heart-warming that we have succeeded in extending government services to a significant sector of our society,” PCA Administrator Euclides G. Forbes said. IPOP has not only benefited IPs but rebel returnees as well, according to Forbes.
The IPOP is one of the projects specifically provided under the Accelerated Coconut Planting and Replanting Project (ACPRP) of PCA for the purpose of encouraging the IPs to preserve and develop their ancestral domain by participating in the coconut development programs like Participatory Coconut Planting Project (PCPP) and Coconut Seedling Dispersal Project (CSDP).