LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The municipal government will be pursuing the conduct of the town’s famous coffee festival this December under the prevailing implementation of the minimum public health standards as the country remains under a state of national public health emergency.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda admitted that the road to gradual and safe recovery of the economy remains difficult because of the current restrictions following the declaration of the health department that Benguet remains under Alert Level 2 status until the middle of the month.
Earlier, the municipal council decided to transfer the conduct of the coffee festival from the previous February to December because it is the harvest time of the coffee beans.
The municipal chief executive claimed that residents are slowly being empowered to plant coffee as their alternative source of income while helping sustain the ongoing efforts of the local government to reforest the various watersheds and communal forests in the municipality.
Arabica is the famous coffee variety being grown by most coffee growers in the different parts of the Cordillera because it is the one that thrives best under the semi-temperate weather condition.
Further, the Arabica variety is also preferred by coffee lovers because of its aroma and caramelized taste.
Establishments that are within areas under Alert Level 2 are allowed to operate with 50 percent capacity to ensure the compliance of people to public health standards such as the mandatory wearing of face masks, observance of physical distancing and the regular practice of personal hygiene and disinfection.
Mayor Salda claimed that the municipal government, in partnership with the various concerned stakeholders, will continue to exert efforts to improve the production, packaging and marketing of coffee as one of the major sources of income of the residents.
According to him, Cordillerans are well known coffee lovers thus the market for quality coffee beans is readily available, aside from the rapidly increasing demand for coffee in the different parts of the country.
The mayor assured the residents and coffee industry stakeholders that the municipal government and concerned government agencies will continue to help in further improving the town’s coffee industry considering the bright prospects of the coffee industry as a source of livelihood and an erosion control.
At present, the Philippines is an importer of coffee from other coffee-producing countries in Southeast Asia despite thus the need to produce more coffee locally.
Aside from the Cordillera, other coffee producing regions in the country include Southern Tagalog and Mindanao.