Coco-Beetle war escalates

SP may declare State of Emergency

MAASIN, SOUTHERN LEYTE – The battle between the provincial government and the tiny but voracious coconut devouring Hispine Beetle has reached a new level of intensity.

Alarmed by reports they were already feasting on the young coconut fronds in ten barangays in Maasin City since they arrived here on Christmas Eve. The Provincial Board in an emergency meeting last Monday issued a resolution banning the transporting of coconut seedlings from infested areas to other places in Southern Leyte.

The SP also released an initial outlay of P480,000 to the Philippine Coconut Authority for the purchase and propagation of Earwigs which attack the adult beetles, and the Asecodes Hispenarium  Wasp which lays its eggs inside the beetle’s larvae which eventually devoirs it. in a matter of days.

PCA Provincial Manager Manuel Sembrano told the Southern Leyte Times that Vice Governor Miguel “Mike” Maamo had assured him they would not use toxic pesticides like Diazinon or Actarra on the beetles because it would eventually poison the coconut tree as well.

Sembrano said he was certain there would be more sightings of the beetle in other parts of Maasin and the 18 towns of the province. In an interview with SLT last Friday, he said:

“The infestation had all the indications of a major outbreak and there’s not much we can do to contain it till we can propagate enough of its natural biological enemies like the earwigs and the asecodes wasp.

“I have already asked our regional office for assistance, but our director there said they had no money and could not help us,” Sembrano lamented.

When asked if the provincial government should declare a State of Emergency. He said he would, if the situation deteriorated, because 80 percent of the people of Southern Leyte would be affected by the beetle infestation.

He said it would also force the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council to provide the PCA with the funds it needed to contain the infestation. And for a province wide inter-cropping program that coconut farmers would need to earn money if their trees are infested. (By Antonio M. Reyes)

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