By Alladin S. Diega | Correspondent
FEARING further regulation that would eventually kill the industry, the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) has appealed to the government against the possible passage of House Bill (HB)5161, authored by Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat of Ifugao.
The bill proposes to further regulate the establishment and implementation of agribusiness ventures arrangements in land reform areas, in which the industry group sees as a potential threat that could endanger the viability of the $1-billion banana export industry.
“Aside from the challenges of climate change and calamities, plant diseases, economic fluctuations, geopolitical conflicts, as well as domestic problems and disruptions that are brought about by natural, economic, scientific and ideological means, the Philippine banana industry is also confronted with a House bill that, if passed, might even kill the industry,” PBGEA Executive Director Stephen Antig said in a text message on Tuesday.
Antig’s group, which is the umbrella organization of the Philippine banana industry, submitted a white paper to several department secretaries, including Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo. The group told these officials they see HB 5161 as “just one of the series of policy lobbying orchestrated by militant groups to sustain their protests versus the government for whatever ground they deem reasonable.”
Banana exporters believe “there has to be collaboration among the pillars of effective participatory governance” to sustain the growth in the industry.
“Government and business and civil society are often in adversarial positions, spoiling the opportunity to resolve conflict for the interest of the general public in terms of policy directions and institutional support, except for a few multiagency bodies, like the Regional Development Councils, which lawmakers should consult and listen to.”
The paper also noted that the banana industry was the first agricultural sector in Mindanao that voluntarily submitted to land acquisition and distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform (CAR) Program (Carp).
The group was pointing to another bill filed in the lower house (HB 4296) mandating the completion of the land acquisition and distribution component of the CAR law. According to PBGEA, the bill’s filing “indicates the extension of Carp/CarPer after it expired in June 2014.”
The group also cited another bill that proposes the creation of an Agrarian Reform Commission to investigate circumventions and violations of Republic Act 6657 (HB 4735). “All these [bills were filed] via their party list champions in the lower house.”
“Ater Carp, banana plantations relied on the production of the cooperatives of more than 30,000 agrarian-reform beneficiaries to cater to the demands of the foreign buyers.”
The group said that, instead of interfering in purely private commercial transactions, the government can provide small or individual banana growers easy access to microfinancing to increase their equity and capital; provide farmers knowledge on precision farming and good agricultural practices; train farmers to be entrepreneurs and understand how economies of scale works; and institutionalize participatory policy-making activities through intensified consultation and feed backing from all stakeholders.
Antig added: “Right from the start, we were in close relationships with banana farmers.”
In the first place, “the banana export industry would not have been socioeconomically significant if the relationship with the local communities is not mutually beneficial.”
Exports of cavendish bananas has breached the $1-billion mark as it grew 18.06 percent, from $962.58 million in 2013, to $1,136.42 million in 2014, the group said, citing statistics from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
More than half a million jobs (503,058) were created for direct and indirect employment receiving an estimated P44 billion in annual wages in banana companies, cooperatives and farms, including the allied industries, such as box and packaging plants, tissue-culture laboratories, chemical companies, trucking and shipping services, health and wellness facilities, insurance companies and retail and consumer firms, among others.
7 comments
The banana export industry flourish over 44 years and doesn’t create a problem for the country, in fact the industry consistently brings in top dollar earnings in more than three million families. Congress should have comprehensive study to all these bills, for this will definitely kill the banana industry once this bill be passed.
The advocates of this bill belong to the socialist Left who are in and out of government. Their goal has nothing to do with improving the lives of farmers. If they were they would be asking for a review of the program knowing that a huge percentage of the lands that were already awarded to the farmers have been left abandoned, sold, mortgaged without the taxes being paid. These people just want to replace the government and enjoying international funding from NGOs like Monsod’s PARFUND.
The elephant in the room is the lack of entrepreneurship of our farmers. Without it, no amount of capital, resources, will make the aging farmer succeed.
The banana industry can and has survived calamities but they don’t stand a chance against greedy politicians who just wants to make money and get re-elected.
Such a typical politico move, right? Operating under the guise of helping our countrymen, in this case the ARBs, but in reality is just probably using the issue for publicity. His move could potentially kill a billion dollar earning industry. What a shame!
Clearly Baguilat didn’t even take into consideration the millions that will be negatively affected should his bill get passed.
These restrictions that HB5161 will impose upon the private dealings between ARBs and private investors will suffocate and eventually kill this thriving industry. Let’s not forget that we have neighboring countries that are more investor-friendly. No matter how dedicated these investors are to supporting our banana industry, if this bill gets passed, they will be forced to pack up and take their business somewhere else. What will happen with these local farmers then?
These farmers are being condemned to poverty once private companies become unwilling to invest.