Palm oil plantation grabs land, harasses farmers, indigenous peoples in Misamis Oriental
“We lost our land, our livelihood and possibly our source of water
because of them,” Consolacion Payla, 66 years old and resident of Opol,
Misamis Oriental
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Misamis Oriental — In every community, the source of
potable water is also their source of life. Thus, the palm oil
plantation in Opol, Misamis Oriental, which endangers the source of
potable water in the area, does not merely encroach on the lands of the
indigenous peoples in the area but also threatens their very existence.
“I am angry because the company that manages the palm oil plantation
has not been true to its words. We lost our land, our livelihood and
possibly our source of water because of them,” Consolacion Payla, 66,
said in the vernacular. Payla is one of the Lumads struggling against
the palm oil plantation in Sitio Limbasan in Opol, Misamis Oriental.
Nakeen Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of A Brown Energy and
Resources Development, Inc., was able to secure a permit from the
government to cultivate over 600 hectares of public land located in
Opol, Misamis Oriental, with corresponding tax perks for the proposed P174.4-million ($4.05 million) project. The exploration phase began late in 2010.
(Photo courtesy of Amihan-Northern Mindanao Region / bulatlat.com)
Palm trees grow up to 30 feet tall and have a life span of 25 years. It bears fresh fruit bunches, small reddish fruits, which are made up of oily pulps. Its seeds, called palm kernel, are also rich in oil. The palm oil plantation in Opol, Misamis Oriental has a capacity of over 13,000 metric tons of fresh fruit bunches a year and would require some 209 personnel.
A Brown started planting palm trees on January 2011 and the commercial operation, meaning harvesting of the fruits, is slated to begin sometime in January 2014. Yet, as early as now, Payla said, the company has already affected their lives. The community of Lumads fear that their source of potable water, which is a nearby river, would be polluted with the harmful chemicals sprayed on the palm trees..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/11/07/palm-oil-plantation-grabs-land-harasses-farmers-indigenous-peoples-in-misamis-oriental/
2 comments:
bakit ba laging kinakawawa mga lumads dito sa pinas? mas puro ang lahi nila, hindi adulterated ng mga mananakop. in other words, mas tunay pa nga silang pinoy o representate ng ating lahi. yung pinuno kaya ng a. brown corporation na iyan ay diyan patirahin at sa tubig na malamang contaminated painumin?
"But with the entry of A Brown most, if not all, of it were taken away from their family and the rest of the community. Included in the five hectares of land they lost to the A Brown are 580 banana trees, 64 coconut trees, four jackfruit trees and one mango tree. “We were here even before you came. How come they can simply take our livelihood away?”"
tapos military harassment sa mga salungat sa a.brown palm plantation. malala pa talaga kay marcos mga dilaw (kc mas rampant)...
"“We do not believe that there is an armed group, nor the NPA,” referring to the communist New People’s Army,” in the area. All of these are mere tactics to silence the community because of their struggle against the palm oil plantation,” Goaynon told Bulatlat.com in an interview."
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