Civet hunting threatens specialty coffee in Cotabato

FOR A PERFECT BREW A worker harvests coffee cherries in a farm frequented by tourists in Makilala, Cotabato. Civets, locally known as “musang” and “milo,” roam this farm and feed on cherries but their population has been threatened by poachers. —PHOTO COURTESY OF KUVI INTEGRATED FARM

KIDAPAWAN CITY—Massive hunting of the Philippine palm civet, known to indigenous peoples here as “musang” or “milo,” has threatened the sustainability of an exotic coffee offering of Cotabato province, according to farmers.

Roger Giangan, president of Cotabato Coffee Federation, said they observed that the hunting and killing of civets had been rampant in the village of Cabilao in the town of Makilala, especially for its meat.

He had counted at least 20 civets slaughtered in the past days. Most of the alleged hunters are villagers, using “jolen” or marble guns, he added.

If the practice persists, Giangan said it would not be long before the local population of the catlike animals would be wiped out.

The local civet population helps drive Makilala’s offering of civet coffee, which pitches a higher price in the market.

Civets are said to eat only choice coffee berries. The animals excrete the beans, which farmers collect, clean, dry and roast, and eventually process and market as an exotic brew.

Giangan said that in the past, they bred civets in captivity to help grow their population and, in turn, help in the production of civet coffee. These civets were eventually released to the wild only to be hunted, Giangan lamented.

Dwindling harvest

The villages of Cabilao, Buhay and Malumpini in Makilala are the center of civet coffee production in Cotabato. A bulk of the production goes to clients in the cities of Cebu, Davao and Manila.

Civets do the rounds among some 200 hectares of arabica coffee farms in these villages.

According to Giangan, he used to harvest at least 10 kilos every day of civet droppings in his 22-hectare coffee farm but because of the massive hunting of civets, it dwindled to only 5 kilos.

“I have appealed to concerned agencies, especially the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), to intervene in order to save these animals from extinction,” Giangan said.

According to Jesosa Balajadia, municipal environment and natural resources officer, civets are protected by the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (Republic Act No. 9147). Violators, she said, face imprisonment of one month to eight years and a fine of between P5,000 and P5 million.

Balajadia assured local coffee planters that they would investigate the reported killing of civets.

She said she was dismayed because, amid the spate of civet hunting in Barangay Cabilao, her office had not received any report from village officials.

Civet populations have been documented in the villages of Malungon, Luayon, Bato and Cabilao, which helped in boosting the civet coffee industry not only in Makilala but in other towns of Cotabato.

But local environment officials also said that the population of civets had dropped, with the loss estimated at between 50 and 100, due to landslides and earthquakes that hit these villages in 2019.