Faced with the unavailability of alcohol for use in the fight against COVID-19, Save Mindanao Volunteers (SMVI), Inc from Butuan City teams up with a local company to produce ethanol from nipa sap.
Ruel Hipulan of SMVI said that they will use laksoy instead of raw nipa sap. Laksoy is a locally-made liquor distilled from the sap of nipa palm. It has an alcohol content of 30% to 40%. By using laksoy, they can reduce cost and production time.
“We will get our laksoy from Surigao. They have a big and steady supply there. Our partner local company can produce 800 liters of ethyl alcohol per day,” Mr. Hipulan said. “All we have to pay in the production is the use of electricity. That is a very good deal. The company owner said that after they stopped operation due to ECQ, they tried to find ways to help in the fight against COVID-19. They are happy that we crossed paths,” he added.
As a support to this project, EcoWEB will buy the first batch of the produce.
“We hope to distribute this alcohol for free to our frontliners,” Regina Antequisa, EcoWEB’s Executive Director said. “By doing this, we also support local livelihoods of that of the nipa tappers and the distillers,” she added.
SMVI is EcoWEB’s co-member in CLEARNet where they promoted survivor and community-led response.
