Tayabas, one of Quezon province's agricultural towns, produces prime commodities such as coconut, rice and livestock. The town has now started producing organic vegetables which are gaining niche in the country's markets.

Although organic vegetable farming is steadily gaining popularity in Tayabas, farmers are yet to cash in on this trend because of the difficulty in promoting organically-grown produce in the market. With the establishment of Tayabas Organic Products Center (TOP Center), promotion of these products will be made easy. 

Just recently, the Tayabas Federation of Farmers' Association, Inc.-Organic Vegetable Group (TFFA-OVG) launched the TOP Center last October 14, 2009.  The TOP is located at Barangay San Roque, Tayabas, Quezon.

IF THERE'S a tree that should earn the sobriquet "wonder," it should be the fast growing "madre de cacao" or more commonly known as kakawate. In fact, that is how Dr. Edwin C. Villar called it in an article he wrote for The PCARRD Monitor.

"The wonder of kakawate lies on its multipurpose uses. It is used as live fence to surround property boundaries, as shade tree, wind break, and more importantly as a feed resource for livestock raisers," wrote Villar in the publication published by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resources Research and Development.

Kakawate (known in the science world as Gliricidia sepium) is a leguminous tropical tree that grows mostly in forests and could grow from five to 10 meters tall. Although native of Central America, it has been naturalized everywhere, including the Philippines, because of its adaptability to any type of condition.

The quest for clean, renewable and affordable energy sources has cultivated a growing global demand for biofuels, with more and more countries turning towards biofuel production and use. But the burning issue nowadays is no longer the advent of biofuels but seemingly how it has fueled debates among different sectors and polarized many into the boon
and bane camps.

Criticisms leveled against biofuels certainly abound. Issues like the sustainability of biofuel production and the ever controversial food vs. fuel debate, to name a few, are far too serious to be ignored. To be fair, these problems mainly concern the so-called “first generation biofuels” or biofuels that are produced from food-based feedstocks, like corn and wheat (for ethanol) and soybean (for biodiesel). Fortunately, rapidly evolving research and development has given rise to newer and better biofuel technologies

One of the forerunners of this new generation of biofuels is cellulosic ethanol, a different form of ethanol. Already being produced on a large-scale in many demonstration plants in the
United States, Canada and Europe, cellulosic ethanol has unique attributes and advantages over standard ethanol that makes it an ideal candidate as a “fuel of the future.” But what makes it even more compelling is that the technology could very well be adapted in the Philippines and can actually be developed and harnessed in the very enclaves of the University.

Renowned environment lawyer Antonio A. Oposa Jr. said that the Philippines is known to have the most voluminous legislation concerning the environment and its preservation. However, the record of implementation, he further said, suffers in the sickbed of non-compliance. His observation seems to be validated by the World Wildlife Fund International when it listed the environmental problems besetting the country and made the observation that these environmental problems are brought about by weak enforcement of laws and poor regulation.

In 1991, the Philippine legislature enacted Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code, transferring, among many others, certain environmental management functions to local government units (LGUs). Among the LGUs that is taking this stewardship responsibility seriously is Batangas City.

With impetus provided by Presidential Decree No. 1152 or the Philippine Environment Code, it entered into an agreement with the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) in February 2009 for assistance in drafting the “Environmental Code of Batangas City, Philippines.”