KABASALAN, Zamboanga Sibugay—Agrarian-reform beneficiaries who took over the 920-hectare rubber plantation of Philippine Rubber Project Co. Inc. in this town have found more opportunities for work.

Besides their day job of tapping rubber, they plant abaca for free through the bayanihan system, produce abaca fiber and make furniture sets on the side.

“We are working harder. We render one day service to maintain and improve a particular area in the plantation every week,” Eduardo Loreto, manager of the Good Year Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (Garbemco), said.

The agrarian-reform beneficiaries who belong to the Good Year Agrarian Reform Community organized Garbemco, making them collective owners and managers of the plantation.

According to Loreto, their newly found virtue—rendering service for free, or what is more traditionally known as bayanihan to intercrop abaca with rubber—is financially rewarding, as it also increased the income of the 312 Garbemco members.

The cooperative produces 4,000 kilograms (kg) of latex and 1,000 kg of scrap, or low-quality latex a day, during the peak season. During summer, latex production is low, almost half of what plantations produce during the rainy season. A kilo of latex is sold at P87/kg to P90/kg, while scraps are sold at P70/kg.

The agrarian-reform beneficiaries who were awarded the 920-hectare plantation through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in 1992 used to earn only P125 a day as plantation workers. When they took over the plantation in barangay Goodyear, named after the brand of tire, Philippine Rubber Project Co.’s well known product, their income increased to P225 a day.

Now their daily income is expected to increase, as the area in the plantation that is intercropped with abaca increases, which means additional income from the production of abaca fiber.

Loreto said, initially, they intercrop abaca with rubber trees and covered 200 hectares of the plantation. This increased to 400 hectares as they realized its income potential. 

He said they sell abaca fiber at P48/kg. As of last year, they were able to produce an average of 10 tons of abaca fiber every three months. 

“Because it is bayanihan, or free, we get to keep the money for the development of the abaca plantation,” he said. 

The price of dressed chicken should not be more than P100 a kilogram (kg) at the retail level since farm- gate prices have even gone down in recent weeks, according to poultry raisers.

SUBIC BAY—Noting the failure by subcontractors to implement even commonsense safety measures that would have prevented the recent fatal accidents at the Hanjin shipyard here, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Thursday said it would close down companies found to disregard safety requirements at the jobsite.

THE National Food Authority (NFA) disclosed that Hanoi has committed to deliver some 10,000 metric tons (MT) of rice to the Philippines under the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve (EAERR).

Since the 2005 World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in Hong Kong, the Philippines—as a key member of the so-called G-20 and Nama 11—has maintained that negotiations for new multilateral trade modalities should be sequential with agriculture going ahead first, followed by industrial goods and services.

KABASALAN, Zamboanga Sibugay—A small group of municipal fishermen-turned-fish-cage operators in this town are going big time with their innovative livelihood projects, transforming their community into an ecotourism destination with the support of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

KABALASAN, Zamboanga, Sibugay—if you happen to see a bottled calamansi juice in the market, check the label and most probably, the nutritious, ready-to-drink beverage was manufactured by the Nazareth Women’s Association from this chiefly calamansi-producing town. 

KABASALAN, Zamboanga Sibugay—Agrarian-reform beneficiaries who took over the 920-hectare rubber plantation of Philippine Rubber Project Co. Inc. in this town have found more opportunities for work.