The Correspondents featured this evening a documentary on the Philippine Coconut Leaf Beetle (Scientific Name : Brontispa longgissima) which is plaguing select parts of the country and is threatening the coconut production of the Philippines (about $700 Million exported yearly.) The Philippine Coconut Authority(PCA) is the lead agency of the Philippines which is battling to contain the infestation.

An infested coconut can be easily diagnosed to be infested by the presence of dry leaves in the center mass of the coconut tree which is where the beetles are massing (Young fronds/leaves appear damaged resulting from the feeding of Brontispa and Young fronds appear brownish while the outer older fronds might still be green - the opposite of the normal, in which the inner younger fronds are green while the outer older fronds are brown)
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Eastern Petroleum Corp (EPC), a small oil player in the Philippines, announced that they will construct a 200,000 Liter/day Ethanol Distillery in the Province of Sarangani in Mindanao next year. Q1 of 2009 is when they are expecting the plant to be finished. The plant will be a joint venture program with some other partners.
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There you have it folks. The Philippines first entry into the World Solar Challenge: Team Sinag, has successfully crossed the finish line at Adelaide Australia on October 27 10:33:00 AM. They finished the race with a day to spare and running in 11th place althroughout. Class leader, Nuon Solar Team, arrived first with a whopping 2 day lead over most of the pack.
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Philanthropist and known Environmentalist, Charles Mosser, passed away last October 17, 2007 at the age of 82. He is personally responsible for the reforestation of huge tracts of land in the Philippines as well as promoting environmental awareness and adoption of organic practices.

Mr. Mosser was CEO and Chairman of Mosser Environment Corporation which was producing Organically grown bananas in the Philippines as well as reforesting areas ravaged by logging in the Visayas and Mindanao. He made his mark in the business world in construction and by establishing a string of popular hotels and apartments in San Francisco.
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