Insurgency remains a problem for banana industry players

From the Sun Star-Davao (Nov 20): Insurgency remains a problem for banana industry players

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said peace and order remains a problem for new players in the banana industry who poured in investments in Davao Region.

Duterte, who delivered a message at the opening of the Davao Trade Expo (Date) 2014 at the SMX Convention Center on Wednesday evening, said these investors have continued to face the problem on taxation "by the New People's Army (NPA)."

"I have acted as an emissary for these new players who go up [the mountains or outland], [helping in] fixing things. And I ask them (NPA) not to tax the new players so much because you would kill the initiative not only on the business but the initiative to go into the business of banana," he told more than 300 delegates present at the opening of the four-day event, which is held back-to-back with the 2014 International Banana Symposium.

For his part, Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association executive director Stephen Antig said in an interview with Sun.Star Davao that PBGEA-affiliated companies have experienced their equipments and packing houses being burned, banana plantations being chopped, and harassment of workers by rebel groups.

Duterte said this kind of problem is something that many new industry players are facing right now.

"I really do not know what is happening to this government, I have been telling them to accelerate the talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines," he said.

Duterte said Mindanao, as a whole, faces so much problems when it comes to peace and order despite the fact that it is not frequently hit by storms and typhoons. He said the last typhoon he can remember hitting Davao, prior to Typhoon Pablo in 2012, was way back in in 1969.

"If we can make Mindanao very peaceful, it will answer all the needs of the country," he said.

Meanwhile, banana industry players and the business community said Date 2014 and the 2014 International Banana Symposium are seen to give the banana industry a boost with the exchange of new innovations, trends, and technology among industry players.

Topics on pest control, disease mitigation, market opportunities, and market updates will be delivered by foreign and local industry experts.

More than 300 delegates attended the opening of Date 2014. Though most of the delegates are from the local and national banana scene, there were also delegates coming from Taiwan, Australia, Russia, Cuba, China, India, and Indonesia, among others.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/business/2014/11/20/insurgency-remains-problem-banana-industry-players-377690