UNKNOWN to many, the coffee industry in Negros had already begun to flourish as early as the 1980s.
Believe it or not, this development was largely made possible by the late Ambassador Roberto Salas Benedicto, better known nationwide as RSB.
RSB acquired about 1,400 hectares of land in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental and Canlaon City, Negros Oriental from a wealthy Filipino-Spanish family and later converted these properties into coffee plantations.
He also built a coffee mill, or central, in Barangay Gomez, Pontevedra.
Today, only the ruins of this coffee mill remain — silent yet powerful reminders of RSB’s grand vision to make Negros Island one of the world’s coffee exporters.
That vision, however, was effectively “killed and buried” by the historic and bloodless EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986.
Soon after the revolution that drove dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from power, RSB’s lands — 1,000 hectares in Barangay Gomez, Pontevedra and another 400 hectares in Barangay Malaiba, Canlaon City — were subjected to compulsory acquisition by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG).
The PCGG later distributed these coffee lands to farmers in Negros. Unfortunately, the once thriving coffee plantations gradually disappeared, and the mature coffee trees were eventually ruined.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
SUGAR CRISIS
But amid the current sugar crisis — marked by low farmgate prices caused by a flood of imported sugar — both agriculture officials and local leaders have begun revisiting the idea of reviving Negros’ coffee industry.
In doing so, they are once again remembering RSB and his coffee legacy.
Records show that during the height of Negros’ early coffee venture, the island was exporting unhulled coffee beans at around P15 per kilo.
Today, coffee prices have surged to between P350 and P400 per kilo.
This means that a 50‑kilogram sack of unhulled coffee can now fetch as much as P20,000 — significantly higher than the roughly P2,200 price of a 50‑kilogram bag of sugar.
With sugar prices continuing to decline, RSB’s coffee legacy has figuratively reawakened agriculture and local officials across Negros Island to the urgent need for sustainable agricultural diversification.
Coffee development has now become one of the priorities of the Department of Agriculture in the Negros Island Region (DA‑NIR).
Seen as a potential billion‑peso industry, the DA‑NIR is now working to assist Negros farmers who are willing to venture into coffee production.
The agency is providing coffee seedlings — Robusta, Liberica, Excelsa, and Arabica — along with fertilizers and other farm inputs to help jump‑start the industry.
LESSEN IMPORT DEPENDENCY
The DA‑NIR is also supporting local government units across the island that started coffee projects two years ago.
Some of these initiatives utilize vacant areas within the North Negros Natural Park (NNNP) and the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP), including areas near the dormant Mt. Silay in northern Negros Occidental.
The DA‑NIR is likewise doing the legwork in marketing and promotion.
According to DA‑NIR Director Jose Albert Barrogo, coffee is one of the agency’s seven priority commodities for Negros Island, envisioned as an alternative agricultural industry alongside the “troubled” sugar sector.
Nationwide, the Department of Agriculture is mandated to reduce the country’s coffee import dependency — from 61.9 percent recorded since 2022 — to only 10 percent by 2028.
Statistics show that the country currently requires about 179,000 metric tons of coffee annually, while local production stands at only around 45,000 metric tons.
This leaves a supply deficit of roughly 75 percent—an immense challenge for the DA.
Although the provincial government of Negros Occidental spent P16 million last year in support of its “coffee boom” program, local production remains far below the national supply requirement.
At present, about 4,500 farmers across Negros are cultivating various coffee varieties, including Arabica and Excelsa.
NEXT COFFEE CONTRIBUTOR
Negros hopes to become one of the country’s major coffee contributors while also helping save hacienda workers from sinking deeper into poverty as the sugar industry struggles.
Given the island’s favorable climate for coffee production, Barrogo said several local government units are already actively promoting coffee farming.
These include the cities of San Carlos, Cadiz, Sagay, and Victorias, as well as the municipalities of E.B. Magalona and Calatrava in northern Negros Occidental.
In the southern part of the province, coffee initiatives are underway in the cities of Sipalay, La Carlota, and Kabankalan, and in the municipalities of Cauayan, Candoni, Hinoba‑an, and La Castellana.
Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto in central Negros are also progressing well with their coffee programs.
In neighboring Negros Oriental, the cities of Dumaguete, Bayawan, and Bais, along with the municipality of Mabinay, are likewise engaged in coffee development.
Next month, the DA‑NIR is set to formalize the creation of a Regional Coffee Council composed of growers from Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.
CADIZ COFFEE VENTURE
The DA‑NIR has also praised the two‑year‑old coffee initiative of the local government of Cadiz City.
Cadiz, a first‑class component city in Negros Occidental, has allocated about 250 hectares across seven barangays — V.F. Gustilo, Celestino Villacin, Mabini, Magsaysay, Luna, Caduha‑an, and Jerusalem — for coffee plantations.
The city government also provides free fertilizers to participating farmers.
At present, Cadiz has about 250,000 fully grown coffee trees — mostly Robusta — and around 700 farmers organized under the Protected Area Community‑Based Resource Management Agreement.
Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. said the city’s coffee program aims to usher upland farmers toward sustainable diversification amid the many challenges confronting the sugar industry.
For the past two years, the city has earmarked P10 million annually to support the coffee venture.
Next month, Cadiz will also begin constructing a P12‑million coffee processing plant in Barangay V.F. Gustilo.
Escalante told this writer on Saturday, March 7, that the city is now seriously pursuing coffee development as the sugar industry continues to shrink.
“What’s the use of our billion‑peso investment in farm‑to‑market roads if most of our upland areas within the NNNP will remain idle?” he asked.
Aside from the processing plant, Cadiz is also working to secure legal documents that will recognize its 700 coffee farmers as legitimate tenured migrants.
ATAS INTO COFFEE, TOO
In Mabinay, Negros Oriental, Barrogo said the DA‑NIR has also secured a stable market for the coffee produced by indigenous members of the Ata tribe.
The Atas of Mabinay currently cultivate about 200 hectares of their ancestral domain for coffee production.
Japanese coffee company UCC (Ueshima Coffee Co.) has agreed to purchase their coffee at P300 per kilo.
“The Atas were very happy with this new business partnership with UCC because their previous buyer used to purchase their unhulled coffee beans for only P50 to P60 per kilo,” Barrogo said.
‘COFFEE BOOM’
Indeed, the ongoing sugar crisis may well serve as the catalyst for the coffee boom that Negros hopes to achieve.
Looking back at RSB’s coffee legacy evokes a sense of nostalgia.
Yet transforming idle lands in protected areas into thriving coffee plantations could also become a remarkable strategy for addressing the island’s economic, social, and environmental challenges.
Above all, sustainability, resilience, and adaptability will determine the success of Negros’ new coffee journey.
Perhaps not today — but certainly in the near future — Negros may yet emerge as the country’s next coffee giant.
What we need now is focus.
We have the land. We have the climate. We have the farmers capable of producing world‑class coffee.
So what are we waiting for?
Let us remember RSB.
Let us have that coffee break — NOW NA!/PN
