Trade-off

FIRST PERSON

- ALEX MAGNO

The Department of Energy (DOE) decided to defer implementation of the added biodiesel blend in the fuel we use. The schedule called for increasing biodiesel content from the current two percent to four percent. Eventually, the biodiesel content will be raised to five percent.

Very likely, the decision to defer advancement of the biodiesel program was cost. Biodiesel costs more than fossil fuel. Although oil prices have climbed down from their recent highs, pump prices continue to be unaffordable. They push up transport costs and add to the inflation rate.

From a strictly technocratic point of view — which is to say the view from the rabbit hole — the decision to defer makes some economic sense. But the deferment will have serious adverse consequences for 25 million Filipinos dependent on the coconut industry.

While consumers save a little in terms of pump prices, poverty will deepen among communities dependent on coconut trees for a living. The trade-off is a cruel one.

Our coconut industry is frail. Once upon a time it made great economic sense to invest in coconuts. We imagined flooding the global market with coconut oil and other product derivatives. But, until lately, coconut oil was given a bad rap: accused of being the source of unwanted cholesterol.

Science had intervened to correct this disinformation about coconuts. Today, people are encouraged to take virgin coconut oil in the raw. It is the poor man's alternative to olive oil.

Cooking in coconut oil is also believed healthier than using seed-based cooking oils. But global demand has not shifted enough to bring back the coconut industry to health.