THE Philippine coconut industry as it is today did not come about through an overnight decision of any single policy maker, or a body of policymakers. Through the years, Government approaches have all tended to establish and maintain a strong and viable coconut industry. Since 1916, law after law has been passed, each with a different approach. Government policy from Spanish regime up to 1980 – a span of more than three centuries – could be characterized as fragmented, with no specific vision. Government policy during the 1970s (particularly during the martial law period) up to 1992 – a mere 20-year span – has had one vision: vegetable energisation. Now that we are in the new millennium, the vision is still for vegetable energisation. Most of all, under the recent implementation of the Republic Act 8749 (otherwise known as the Clean Air Act of 1999), the Government has to adopt eco-dynamics energisation. This is not only to curb air pollution, but to also save the millions of two-stroke motorcycle units that are believed to be the cause of carbon monoxide emissions from incomplete combustion of petroleum fuel. The newly created ‘National Council on Food Security & Job Creation’ was tasked by President Gloria Arroyo to effectuate a long time plan to embark upon vegetable energisation. It is also required to immediately construct a $30 million vegetable energy plant in each province.

Enkoco 2-ST Motor Oil (Enkoco) is a high performance coconut-based two-stroke motor oil that is designed to meet Premium Quality Standards. It is formulated from a blend of high quality coconut natural oil (CNO), botanical viscosifier and superior fluorine-base catalytic additive from oil plants to provide good protection against acid deposits, ring sticking, piston tightening and pre-ignition. It has excellent resistance to oxidation and thermal degradation, thus giving good protection against wear and corrosion. Enkoco is pre-diluted to ensure rapid mixing when added to fuel. No wonder after a laboratory and actual re-testing of Enkoco by a multi-partite agency headed by the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in May 2003, it was clearly shown that all the tricycles had a reduction of CO and HC emissions. The average reduction was 54.59 and 51.52 per cent for CO and HC respectively. While the world’s first Vegetable Energy Plant is to be constructed in Tiaong, Quezon Province, UNIVALM – the acronym of the inventor, Vick A L Medel – is now in the market for the Enkoco 2-ST Doubly Stroke Coco Motor Oil. The Philippines Government is exploring the use of coconut oil as raw material for producing 2-T oil (two-stroke oil) for motor vehicles as a means of providing market that will help stabilise the price of coconut oil. Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. said in a letter to Jose Cojuangco, presidential adviser on job creation for agriculture, that the Department of Agriculture is considering to fund the $30 million project, which offers the hope of substituting petroleum-based raw materials for 2T oil. The seven-member Motorcycle Development Programme Participants Association Inc. (MDPPA) has appealed to Transportation & Communications Secretary Leandro R. Mendoza to support the ailing motorcycle industry in the Philippines and to save the lives of millions of Filipinos and the industry which depend on it – not to phase out the units. MDPPA, he said, was allocated a substantial budget for the development of coconut oil found to reduce emission from two-stroke motorcycles by as much as 77 per cent. But these efforts will turn to naught if the Government pushes through with the phase-out. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has already approved the immediate construction of a $30 million coconut oil mill that would produce the Enkoco 2-ST two-stroke coconut-based motor oil the country’s tricycle industry needs to comply with the strict requirements of the Clean Air Act. Link: http://www.enkoco.zoomshare.com