Farmers donate coconuts to help ‘Yolanda’ victims

LUCENA CITY—Farmers in the province of Quezon contributed 10 coconuts each to be used to raise funds for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in the Visayas.

“It is a small amount but it is their way of commiserating with the plight of fellow coconut farmers in typhoon-devastated areas,” Jansepth Geronimo, campaign officer of  Quezon Association for Rural Development and Democratization Services, said in a phone interview.

He said officials of the 3,000-strong Kapisanan ng mga  Magbubukid sa Bondoc Peninsula  and the 1,000-member Ugnayan ng Magsasaka sa Gitnang Quezon had assigned area leaders to collect the coconut donations.

Geronimo said that as 10 coconuts weigh 3 kilograms and cost P10 per kilogram, the groups expected the coconut donations to amount to P120,000. He added the groups would also solicit more funds through voluntary donations and other fund-raising activities.

He said the groups would entrust their cash donations to an allied organization, which has been conducting relief work in the Visayas.

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and the claimants’ movement Coco Levy Fund Ibalik sa Amin  on Saturday pushed for the immediate return of the estimated P70-billion coco levy funds to small coconut farmers who were among the typhoon victims in Leyte, Samar, Aklan and Capiz provinces.

KMP chair Rafael Mariano, in a phone interview, said coconut farmers could use their own money for their immediate recovery.

In San Pedro City, Laguna, a spa with four branches in the province announced to its employees and clients, through a tarpaulin display, that it was offering its one-day income to victims of Yolanda in Tacloban City and other parts of the Visayas.

The Salon 28, owned by businessman Rudy Reponte, has put up a tarpaulin saying all of the spa branches’ income on Nov. 15 will  be donated to the victims of the disaster in the Visayas. With a report from  Romulo Ponte, Inquirer Southern Luzon