Mindanao at risk of losing investments due to unchecked rebels’ extortion activities

From the Manila Bulletin (Dec 5): Mindanao at risk of losing investments due to unchecked rebels’ extortion activities

The ceasefire between the government and the communist rebels in Mindanao is not working for plantations and businesses in the region as investors continue to experience harassment coming from the New People’s Army (NPA).

A statement showed on Monday that NPA continues to harass businesses even if there is ongoing peace talks between the government and rebel groups and among the hardest hit are banana plantations and big transportation companies operating passenger buses and contractors.

Businessmen, who requested anonymity for security reasons, asked the administration to find solutions to this worsening scenario in the region.

They said what’s happening now to businesses in Mindanao will not give a good impression to foreign investors that were invited by President Rodrigo Duterte to do business here in the country.

According to them, the rebels are asking money from companies in Mindanao, among them agricultural plantations, private contractors, quarrying operators, public market stallholders and even small-time entrepreneurs.

The amount ranges from as low as P5,000 to as high as P5 million a month.

“If we pay, we will lose our shirts and would be forced to close shop; if we refuse to pay, our lives and that of our family members will be in danger, ” said a businessman in Toril, a district in Davao City.

In some provinces, the extortionists even demand revolutionary taxes from barangay captains and municipal mayors and councilors.

Businessmen asking for protection from the military are also disappointed that the military and the police can’t do anything about the extortion activities since they have been ordered to stay in the barracks amid the government’s unilateral ceasefire.
 
Just a few months ago, Dole-Stanfilco decided to shutdown its plantation in Surigao del Sur after losing a total of more than P20 million to the NPAs when they burned their equipment and packing plants.

The firm’s decision resulted in worsening of joblessness in the area, a businessman noted.

To recall, President Rodrigo R. Duterte already acknowledged that the banana industry is hampered by the continuous harassment of lawless groups in Mindanao.

“The greatest challenge of the banana growers in the Philippines is really the law and order. Until and unless you can put together a country that’s bereft of any revolutionary tax, extortion and everything, sinusunog ang (burning) property, it’s all because of the taxation. If it’s not taxation of the communists, it’s extortion of the roving bandits in Mindanao,” Duterte said earlier.

The same fate is being suffered by telecommunications companies that have a presence in the region.

In a different statement, Globe Telecoms had admitted before that it couldn’t set up cell sites fast enough in certain areas in Mindanao partly because of the big amount being demanded to them by rebels.

http://business.mb.com.ph/2016/12/05/mindanao-at-risk-of-losing-investments-due-to-unchecked-rebels-extortion-activities/