Quezon City --- President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has greenlit a sweeping five-year roadmap to transform the Philippines’ coconut industry, approving the revised Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan (CFIDP) 2024-2028 under Memorandum Circular No. 84 on May 21, 2025. This signals a renewed push to boost productivity, income, and social welfare among the country’s estimated three million coconut farmers.

Under Memorandum Circular No. 84, the CFIDP 2024-2028 sets out seven core program components—up from six in the 2022–2026 iteration—to streamline inter-agency collaboration and fast-track the delivery of services funded through the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) Act (RA 11524).

“The CFIDP 2024-2028 aims to consolidate and expedite benefits due to coconut farmers to increase their incomes, alleviate poverty, and achieve social equality,” PCA Administrator & CEO, Dr. Dexter R. Buted said in a statement accompanying the memorandum.

The updated CFIDP overhauls the 2022-2026 blueprint after audits revealed systemic gaps, including inter-agency overlaps and underutilized funds. Key revisions and program components include:

1. Social Protection Programs: PCA is now the sole implementer of health and medical benefits for farmers and their families, partnering with public and private medical institutions. The Crop Insurance program will launch an enhanced Coconut Yield Insurance Product Package covering not only mortality but also yield losses. Scholarship eligibility has been broadened, lowering grade-point requirements and prioritizing agriculture-related courses, and credit guidelines have been recalibrated to offer more farmer-friendly loan terms.
2. Training Program for Farmers and Families: Elevated to its component, the training program deepens collaboration between the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and TESDA to transform Learning Sites for Agriculture into registered Farm Business Schools.
3. Farmer Organization and Cooperative Empowerment: The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) will shift focus from building facilities to capacity-building, organizing farmers into cooperatives and integrating them further into the value chain.
4. Coconut Hybridization: Expansion of seed production centers, establishment of on-site irrigation at hybrid nurseries, and promotion of PCA-recommended varieties aim to increase planting materials’ quality and availability.
5. Community-based Farm Enterprise Development: Now including native livestock integration, such as backyard poultry and horse integration, and prioritizing basic post-harvest facilities and farm cluster expansion to rehabilitate aging plantations.
6. Integrated Processing and Downstream Products: The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) assumes full control of shared processing facilities, overseeing design, construction, and equipping, to eliminate prior overlaps with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
7. Support Service Programs: Streamlined credit facilities now accommodate smaller loan sizes; the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will tailor enterprise development services to beneficiaries’ maturity levels; DPWH will concentrate on farm-to-market roads and related infrastructure.

The CFITF, endowed through coconut levy collections and governed by a Trust Fund Management Committee led by the Department of Finance, will finance the plan’s implementation. Annual allocations to implementing agencies are stipulated under RA 11524 and overseen by joint circulars from the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of Justice.

A breakdown of trust-fund allocations under the CFIDP 2024-2028 reveals:

• 20% for hybrid seed development and nursery operations (PCA/DA-PCARRD);
• 10% each for health and medical programs (PCA), shared processing facilities (PhilMech), infrastructure development (DPWH), credit programs (DBP/LBP), and farm improvement/intercropping initiatives (DA’s inter-crop cluster);
• 8% each for farmer scholarship (CHED) and training (TESDA/ATI);
• 5% each for farmer organization empowerment (CDA) and research, marketing and promotion (DTI);
• 4% for crop insurance product development (PCIC).

In directing the immediate roll-out of the CFIDP 2024-2028, all national agencies, government-controlled corporations, state universities and colleges, and local government units to support the plan’s programs, activities, and projects. Existing agency appropriations and CFITF allocations will cover initial funding requirements.

The revised CFIDP signals a renewed and strategic commitment by the Marcos administration to elevate the welfare of Filipino coconut farmers and ensure the sustainable development of the coconut industry. With clearer mandates, streamlined processes, and strengthened inter-agency collaboration, the plan is now set to deliver more tangible and timely benefits to the millions of Filipinos who depend on this vital agricultural sector.

As the plan moves from paper to practice, the challenge now lies in execution to ensure that this renewed commitment results in real improvements on the ground, where it matters most in the lives and livelihoods of our coconut farmers. With unified efforts across all sectors and stakeholders, the CFIDP 2024-2028 can serve as a game-changing lever for inclusive growth and a more resilient, self-reliant coconut industry. ###