Former NPA rebels turn lemon grass oil extractors

By Mike Guimbatan Jr.

BANAUE, Ifugao—They lived half their lives with the wild grasses of the Cordillera, but today, some of the former communist rebels in Ifugao ventured into lemon grass production and processing.

Mario Pugong, a former rebel leader who was a pioneer member of the first communist movement in the Cordillera based in Hapao, Hungduan is now engaged in the distillation and fermentation of essential oils and other extracts from lemon grass.

Pugong is the president of the Concerned Citizens for Ifugao Peace and Development, composed mostly of former rebels turned farmers in Banaue and Hungudan areas.

The CCIPD has been planting lemon grass in commercial quantities to show example in their community that there is a better alternative to the illegal marijuana production.
It paid off when government and non-government institutions recognized their effort and convinced them into oil extraction and by-products processing.

The group now produces pure extracts for sale to cosmetics and detergent processors as well as processing by-products into organic fertilizers, organic pesticides, local soap manufacturing and tea drinks.

According to Pugong, many of his former colleagues in the communist movement have now turned entrepreneurs engaged in the planting not just of lemon grass but also of arabica and robusta coffee varieties.

Fernando Bahatan, a retired government executive and project coordinator of the CCIPD sourced out partners such as the Isabela State University , the Geo Farms in Bayambang, Pangasinan, and even the United Nations Development Programme.

Bahatan said they have been in partnership with donor agencies and are currently developing the practical use of lemon grass leaves for community use.

In his report to outgoing peace adviser Jesus Dureza, Bahatan said they have other ventures but the lemon grass production provided greater interest and returns.

Lemon grass in upland communities grow bigger and taller but the only disadvantage is their oil production which is lower than tropical plantation areas. “It could be attributed to the climate”, Bahatan explained but their group said they produce better quality of oil.

For his part, Pugong said the production and processing of essential oils from lemon grass have been made possible in projects for rebel returnees with the assistance of UNDP and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

“The projects help us rebel returnees in community-based rural development, as well as the opportunity in our dreams for a better livelihood” Pugong told Dureza and international donors during an ocular visit to a lemon grass fermentation and distillation plant in Banaue last week.

Bahatan meanwhile said lemon grass production and processing include “capacity-building seminar-workshops where we could assist the members of the CCIPD and interested community residents on lemon grass leaves, distilled water, and essential oils.”

Lemongrass is used in herbal teas and other nonalcoholic beverages in baked goods, and in confections. Oil from lemongrass is widely used as a fragrance in perfumes and cosmetics, such as soaps and creams.

Citral, extracted from the oil, is used in flavoring soft drinks in scenting soaps and detergents, as a fragrance in perfumes and cosmetics, and as a mask for disagreeable odors in several industrial products.

Citral is also used in the synthesis of ionones used in perfumes and cosmetics.