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Tuesday, March 12,2019
lncreased Goco content in diesel
could impact food security
I leader ofthe House of Represen-
/f tatives has expressed concern
.clffi'ffi:f,l""**,ilffin
two percent - the coconut metryl ester
(CME) blend of diesel tuel codd impact
the counh]r's food secffity
Marinduque nep. Lord Allan Velasco,
chairman of the House Committee on
Energr and co-chairman of the Joint
Congressiona-l Oversight Committed on
Biofuels, wamed that theincrease in CME
blend might affect the prices of other agri-
cdtural cornrnoditiesif agricr.rlturallands
devoted to food crops are used for biofuels
pmduction.
"Food security r€mains our primary
priority. By no means this pioposal
should compromise food supply. No
Filipino should go hungry,, he said after
the Deparhnent o{ Agiculture (DA) is
planning to increase to 6ve percent the
CME blend
He asked tJIe DA to assess the real
benefits of biofuels on farmerq and its
plan to assist farmers delelopalternative
markets for the local copra industry, such
as in health, cosmetics and animal feed
markets.
Velasco also sought the implementa-
bon of the SocialAmelioration andWelhre
Program for Workers in the Biofuels
Prcduction (SAWP) by the Deparhnent
oflabor and Emplosrynent (DOLE).
"Underthe la11 SAWP should aid our
crprafrrmers in elploringotherlivelihood
opportunities," he said-
The House leader rejected tlre DAs
* Plrrp*,, n
proposal to increase to five percent
the CME blend, branding it ab ,,anti-
consumet" citing its adverse impact on
pump prices.
"As it is, consumers are alrcady faced
with the burden of high fuel prices,,, Ve-
lasco said.
"Raising the biofuels blend will only
aggravate this, as the upward adjushnent
in the CME blend is pmjected lo increase
the pump prices in diesel by at least pz.2s
per lite4" he said-
At the present 2 percent blend, ihe
impactof CME on dieselis alrcadvat pL50
per liteq he poinbd out.
"We must keep in mind ttlat a huge
chunk of diesel consumers is ftom the
public h'anspofl sectol and any increase
in diesel prices will lead to higher hans-
portation cost" Velasco added"