ARBs appeal to government to resolve NPA harassment

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 24): ARBs appeal to government to resolve NPA harassment

Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) are appealing to the government to stop the New People's Army (NPA) rebels from attacking plantations in Mindanao because they might shut down their operations, laying off hundreds of thousands of farm workers.

Last year, the NPA rebels attacked Mindanao plantations almost on a monthly basis beginning in January until November. They burned heavy equipment, container vans and cargo trucks loaded with bananas in various parts of Mindanao, such as T’boli and Surallah in South Cotabato; Barobo and Lianga in Surigao del Sur; Quezon, Bukidnon; Maco, Compostela Valley; and Maasim, Sarangani Province.

The farmers said the attacks stopped, probably because of the annual Christmas ceasefire agreement in December, but the NPAs have stepped up their violent activities against the plantations starting late January 2016 up to last week.

The number of attacks in less than a month, covering Jan. 22 to Feb. 19, 2016, already equaled the number of attacks for the whole of 2015.

During the period, the farmers said the NPAs burned four Martignani spray trucks, a warehouse inside a packing house compound and other heavy equipment from eight different plantations in Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte and South Cotabato.

The turbulent situation in Mindanao could stop further expansion of the plantations, at the very least, but it could worsen when multinationals start packing up and leaving for other countries eyeing to grab the lucrative fruits export market in Asia and the Middle East from Mindanao exporters.

CASUALTIES

The attacks have not yet resulted in any physical casualty to plantation workers but a much greater injury awaits, not only the farm laborers but also the economy in general, said Eduardo Maningo, a spokesman for the ARBs.

Banana plantations alone account for 83,000 hectares in Mindanao and at an average of four direct and indirect workers, the banana industry employs 332,000 workers. Together with their families, a potential of two million people will lose their livelihood if these attacks by the rebels continue.

The government will also lose the taxes collected through property taxes, business permits, value added tax (VAT) and income taxes, among others, derived from investments of the multinationals.

The country’s employment problem is seen to worsen if the government is not able to solve the Mindanao crisis. Thousands of the country’s overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are projected to be laid off in the Middle East as the region suffers a crisis due to the declining oil prices.

With the potential plantation workers losing their jobs and the OFWs with jobs returning from overseas, the country faces a serious problem.

"The government should step in and do something about it. If the government doesn’t do anything, then we will all be losers," said Maningo.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=860375