COCOFED

17/10/2026

02/10/2026

24-HOUR PUBLIC WEATHER FORECAST
Issued at 4:00 PM, 01 October 2026

SYNOPSIS: Trough of Tropical Storm {CHOI-WAN} affecting Visayas and Mindanao.

TROPICAL CYCLONE OUTSIDE PAR AS OF 3:00 PM TODAY TROPICAL STORM CHOI-WAN (2627) LOCATION: 2,660 KM EAST OF CENTRAL LUZON (16.4°N, 146.5°E) MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS: 75 KM/H NEAR THE CENTER GUSTINESS: UP TO 90 KM/H MOVEMENT: WESTWARD AT 15 KM/H

Forecast Weather Conditions

Area: Mindanao, Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, and Central Visayas
Weather Condition: Cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms
Caused By: Trough of TC Choi-Wan
Impacts: Possible flash floods or landslides due to moderate to at times heavy rains

Area: The rest of Visayas
Weather Condition: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms
Caused By: Trough of TC Choi-Wan
Impacts: Possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms

Area: Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon
Weather Condition: Partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms
Caused By: Localized Thunderstorms
Impacts: Possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms

Forecast Wind and Coastal Water Conditions

Area: Luzon and the western section of Visayas
Wind Speed: Light to Moderate
Wind Direction: Northeast to North
Coastal Waters: Slight to Moderate / (0.6 to 1.2 meters)

Area: The eastern section of Mindanao and the rest of Visayas
Wind Speed: Light to Moderate
Wind Direction: North to Northwest
Coastal Waters: Slight to Moderate / (0.6 to 1.2 meters)

Area: The rest of Mindanao
Wind Speed: Light to Moderate
Wind Direction: Northwest to West
Coastal Waters: Slight to Moderate / (0.6 to 1.2 meters)

Extremes of Temperature and Relative Humidity for The 24-hour Period Ending 4:00 PM TODAY

Minimum Temperature: 28.6 °C ... 8:00 AM
Maximum Temperature: 32.6 °C... 12:00 PM

Minumum Relative Humidity: 57 % ... 10:00 AM
Maximum Relative Humidity: 80 % ... 2:00 PM

TIDES AND ASTRONOMICAL INFORMATION Over Metro Manila

sunrise tomorrow: 5:46AM
sunset today: 5:46PM
moonrise tomorrow: 10:25PM
moonset tomorrow: 10:58AM
illumination tomorrow: 62%

For other information about weather, please log on to pagasa.dost.gov.ph or bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph or call at (02)927-1335/(02)926-4258

30/09/2026

Forty nuts a year. That is roughly what an average coconut tree in the Philippines produces, and if you have never had to think about it, forty sounds like a lot of coconuts. It is about a third of what that tree should be giving.

That figure is the national average, according to the Philippine Coconut Authority, and much of the reason it sits so low is age. Roughly 340 million coconut trees are standing in the country, and many of them are already aging or, in the Department of Agriculture's own word, senile.

I did not know a tree could have a working life the way a person does, but Philippine law is very specific about it. The Coconut Preservation Act of 1995 describes a senescent tree as one already overage, weak and no longer productive, and it says you cannot simply cut a coconut tree down. You need a permit from the Philippine Coconut Authority. One of the things that earns you that permit is a tall coconut palm turning sixty. A coconut palm has an official old age, written into the statute book.

So the country is replacing them. A five-year program that began in 2023 is trying to put 100 million new coconut trees into the ground by 2028.

Here is the part I keep thinking about. Not one of those trees feeds anybody for a long time. A tall coconut palm starts bearing fruit six to eight years after it is planted, and even the faster hybrids take three or four. Somebody pushes a seedling into a hole this season and then waits years, in some cases most of a decade, before it gives back a single nut.

While that waiting happens, the old trees still have to carry everything. So the Philippine Coconut Authority is fertilizing them with agricultural grade salt, hoping to lift them part of the way back, to at least 60 nuts a year until the young ones are ready.

That is the thing about a coconut tree, though. Nobody plants one for themselves. Many of the 340 million standing there now went into the ground decades ago, put there by people who knew they would not see the best of it. Whoever plants this year's batch is doing exactly the same thing.

Sources: Department of Agriculture, June 2025; Coconut Preservation Act of 1995 as amended by RA 10593; Tetra Pak Coconut Handbook →

24/09/2026

🌴 Where the coconuts meet the roadside market. 🥥
A little glimpse of tropical life—fresh, simple, and rooted in the coconut grove. 🌿

Simple stalls. Fresh harvest. Coconut country. 🌴🥥

🥥🌴

20/09/2026

Pause. Reflect. Reset.

17/09/2026

THE TRUTH ABOUT COCOFED: BEYOND THE “GREED” NARRATIVE

There has been a recurring claim that COCOFED was motivated by “greed” and that its involvement in the coconut levy was simply about securing money for itself.

That accusation deserves to be examined against the historical record—not repeated as though it were an established fact.

COCOFED has never denied that the coconut levy controversy is complicated. It has consistently maintained, however, that its role was rooted in representing coconut farmers and protecting the long-term interests of the Philippine coconut industry.

WHAT DOES THE RECORD SHOW?

When the coconut levy system was established, COCOFED was a recognized national organization of coconut producers with a nationwide organizational structure.

After 1986, COCOFED and related entities were sequestered and became involved in decades of litigation. During that period, allegations were made concerning the coconut levy and the people and organizations associated with it.

But an allegation is not automatically a proven fact.

The courts subsequently issued important decisions concerning the character and ownership of coconut levy assets. The Supreme Court determined that the coconut levy was public in character and was imposed for a public purpose connected with the coconut industry. Those legal findings are part of the record and should be acknowledged.

At the same time, the existence of those rulings does not establish the sweeping proposition that COCOFED as an organization was “run by greed.”

That is a conclusion about motive—and motive must be demonstrated, not simply asserted.

LOOK AT WHAT COCOFED DID

COCOFED’s historical record describes activities undertaken to protect and develop the coconut industry, including:

• Defending the international market for Philippine coconut oil when coconut oil was being attacked in the United States.

• Supporting scientific research concerning coconut oil and its potential applications.

• Working to address the aflatoxin problem threatening Philippine copra meal exports to Europe.

• Pursuing research into the historical US coconut-oil excise-tax issue.

• Supporting research and development aimed at producing higher-value coconut products.

• Advocating for the long-term rehabilitation, modernization, and sustainability of the coconut industry.

These activities do not, by themselves, settle every controversy surrounding COCOFED or the levy. They do, however, demonstrate why reducing the organization’s entire history to the word “greed” is an incomplete portrayal.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE COURT CASES?

This part of the history also needs to be told accurately.

Some coconut-levy cases continued for decades. Other cases were dismissed on legal and procedural grounds, including issues involving extraordinary delay.

In 2023, the Sandiganbayan dismissed Civil Case No. 0033-B involving COCOFED and related entities on the ground of inordinate delay, and the dismissal subsequently became final.

In 2024, the Sandiganbayan dismissed several remaining coconut-levy-related cases involving the Marcoses and others, citing, among other things, the Supreme Court’s earlier rulings and the extraordinary length of the proceedings.

A dismissal does not necessarily mean that every allegation underlying a case was declared false.

But neither should allegations from cases that did not result in a final finding of liability be presented today as though they were unquestionable facts.

That distinction is essential.

“GREED” IS NOT A COURT FINDING

This is the point that should not be lost.

The statement that COCOFED was “run by greed” is a characterization. It is not a judicial finding establishing the motive of the organization as a whole.

COCOFED’s position has been that the coconut levy should be preserved as a long-term resource for the rehabilitation and development of the coconut industry—not simply dissipated through immediate distribution.

People may disagree about how the levy should be used. They may disagree about COCOFED’s historical role. They may criticize decisions made by particular individuals.

Those are legitimate subjects for public discussion.

But disagreement is different from rewriting history.

LET THE RECORD SPEAK

COCOFED does not ask anyone to ignore the controversies surrounding the coconut levy.

It asks only that the entire history be considered.

The allegations.
The court decisions.
The dismissals.
COCOFED’s documented activities.
The interests of coconut farmers.
And the long-term history of the Philippine coconut industry.

The word “greed” cannot substitute for evidence.

COCOFED’s history should be judged by the complete record—not by a single accusation repeated often enough that people begin to mistake it for an established fact.

The truth about COCOFED deserves more than a slogan. It deserves history, evidence, and context.

COCOFED
For the coconut farmers. For the coconut industry. For the truth.

11/09/2026

A little piece of our history, rediscovered.

Established 1947. Restored 2026. 🔄 We tracked down a blurry copy of our day-one logo and brought it back to life stitch-for-stitch. History, uncovered!

07/08/2026