Tribute to Tolong
Multi-Purpose coop

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri Sunday paid tribute to the officials and staff of the Tolong Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Bayawan City , Negros Occidental. He cited the impressive growth of the coop and how it had paid off well for the economy of Negros oriental.

“Cooperatives are the best mechanism we have today to eliminate poverty, address issues on gender equality, elimination of child labor, and unfair labor practice, avert the havoc of climate change and reduce global warning,” Zubiri said in a speech read for him by Silay City veterinarian Enrique Barcelona.

The ethical entity that “incorporates the environmental costs and a response to climate change into their business plans,” Zubiri mentioned, also paid tribute to the development of clean and renewable sources of energy from biomass, mini-hydro, wind and solar, manufacturing energy-saving equipment, energy-efficient materials…,” the speech added.

In a way that paid tribute to the efforts by Bayawan City residents, led by Engineer Herman Serana, now on his last term, to convert its 200-hectare jatropha plantation into useful energy.

While a lot of scientists and technicians are breaking their heads on how to convert jatropha into biodiesel, Serna and his cooperative farmers simply bought what termed as a simple and efficient Dutch-made machine that enables them to extract 10 liters of oil daily form locally grown jatropha.

And, mixing these with oil, they now produce biodiesel. This is used to fuel simple engines. Even as fuel for the diesel-powered vehicle of Federico Locsin III, chair of the Confed Panay-Negros chapter, during their recent visit to Bayawan to attend the rites of the Tolong Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

Herman Santos, Confed office manager, said it was Serana, himself, who presented one gallon of jatropha oil to Locsin. The latter immediately poured it into his diesel tank despite the caution by Trustee Raymond Montinola to determine its usefulness and efficiency first.

The manually-operated oil expeller was dubbed by Engineer Serana as a simple machine which actually is more functional than the more sophisticated ones he had been presented with by other groups.

It processes as much as two liters per hour or up to five kilogram of seeds per hour.

The expeller can also handle coconut cream production and can be used for virgin oil production, Serana pointed out.

Jatropha cultivation is one of the linchpin of the mayor's development program. And it has already proven its worth in that Bayawan is enjoying the benefit of the biodiesel that it produces every day.

How much did that expeller cost? Actually, less than P8,000 per machine.

“Piteba”, its brand name, is so simple, one can learn its use in only an hour.

It is made up only of a few moving parts, which includes the main container for the seeds, the firing engine, and pressers, and the oil drain plus the expeller which can be opened to extract the drived seed core. This can be used to fuel a stove.

Zubiri's point – that cooperatives can manage domestic, farm and industrial waste.

He said the Senate will work toward rewarding or incentivizing cooperatives for the sake of its members and for the sake of our communities, the same speech added.

Perhaps, they can start providing incentives to the cooperative of Tolong which is headed by another engineer Preciosa Maturan who recently went to China to study how things are going on there and to find out what could be learned there for adoption by the Philippines .

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Speaker Jose De Venecia has reportedly come up with his moral rejuvenation program's main thrust – transparency in the handling of the countryside development funds of House members.

But while that may remain a very controversial attempt, nevertheless that is a teaser that could put President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the burner. Shows you that the feud between the two-Joe De V and GMA, is not just my imagination but is a real thing.

Watch out for the simmering feud between the two polars of power in the administration head toward a possible open conflict if mediators fail to heal the wounds already opened.

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Kudos to Drebbie Las Piñas for romping off with the Villamonte barangay polls.

Admittedly, Drebbie's popularity among the barangay trike drivers was largely one of the major ingredients for his smashing victory despite earlier predictions that Alex Espino was going to beat him hands down.*

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