Rubber industry gets support from Sibugay lawmaker

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay --- Two similar bills pending in the Congress seeks “to initiate and administer research and development programs that will improve the quality and increase productivity of rubber” for the benefit of smallholder rubber producers and processors” by creating the Philippine Rubber Research Institute (PRRI).

Rep. Ann Hofer of the second congressional district, this province filed House Bill No. 2435 in a bid to improve the production of rubber in the country by creating the PRRI to promote the quality and increase the quantity of rubber production.

Sen. Loren Legarda also filed a similar bill, Senate Bill No. 1651.

In filing the bill, Hofer said the government should now help people from Mindanao on how to promote quality and increase quantity of rubber production.

Rubber, scientifically known as Hevea brasilienses, is grown in Mindanao being typhoon free.

In 1905, rubber tree seedlings were introduced in the country, almost at the same
time when Indonesia and Malaysia started their own rubber industries. According to the International Rubber Study Group, these countries are now among the leading rubber producers and exporters, together with Thailand and India.

Data from the Department of Agriculture (DA) revealed that there is great demand for rubber, as world consumption of rubber has been increasing. World production of natural rubber is projected to increase at 3-5% per year up to 2020, which is from 6.6 million tons in 2006 to 17.4 million tons in 2010 to 28.1 million in 2020.

However, the Philjppines is lagging behind its Asian neighbors in terms of
production and exportation of rubber. In 2004, the country’s rubber industry accounted for only 1.05 % of the world consumption.

The slow progress of the rubber industry is attributed to the low quality of rubber products, lack of planting materials for expansion and lack of investments for the establishment of bud wood garden and nurseries.

An increase in production would raise income opportunities for the people of Mindanao especially the poor families whose daily subsistence relied on rubber, Hofer stressed.

“This measure is vital and urgent in line with the government’s effort to upgrade the economy, modernize industry, and alleviate poverty for sustainable development,” Hofer said

The proposed measure aims to increase rubber productivity and further develop
and expand the Philippine rubber industry by creating the PRRI which shall propagate and promote the planting, maintenance and utilization of rubber trees.

It also seeks to provide access to quality rubber tree seedlings, modern production techniques, and other support: services, undertake training and other capacity-building programs for stakeholders in the rubber industry.

The development of the rubber industry requires focused programs and projects on research, training, and capability-building that requires an institution to oversee and implement these activities, Hofer said.

"Its creation in Sibugay is urgent not only because of the absence of a rubber institution in the country, but more important is because of the abundance of rubber trees in the said province," Hofer added.

She called for the immediate approval of her proposed bill saying the potential contribution of this promising industry in the province to national economy should not be underestimated.

"More importantly the need to create the PRRI is based from principles enshrined in the Constitution regarding the promotion of self-reliant industries; the encouragement of private enterprises; the generation of employment and livelihood opportunities for the poor; and the provision for training and education particularly in science and technology among others," Hofer said.

The PRRI with its rationally designed functions of initiating research both on policy and technology, of providing training and other support services is seen as a strong foundation on which a solid and competitive Philippine rubber industry will rise, Hofer said

General:Ceasefire violated in Zanorte

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay --- An Army general denied reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is “busy deploying troops to strategic locations of Zamboanga del Norte” as par of the preparations when the peace talks will finally collapse.

Brigadier General Jovencio Magalso of the 102 Infantry Brigade based here labeled the reports as “not true”.

The reports published in Luwaran website said the Army soldiers dispatched to Zamboanga del Norte came from Jolo, Sulu were mainly composed of former combatants of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Some 5,000 MNLF fighters were integrated into the AFP after the MNLF and government signed the 1996 GRP-MNLF Final Agreement.

“They are now packing up their things and in a day or two they would be shipped to Zamboanga del Norte, which is now considered a bastion of the MILF,” the Luwaran quoted un-named reporters in Jolo.

The MILF has a sizeable fighting force in Zamboanga del Norte, which is considered by the military as a threat once hostilities start in case the peace talks collapsed completely, a ranking official of Moro Islamic Liberation Front of Zamboanga Sibugay, who requested not to be named, said.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF was stalled again last month over the sensitive issue of territory.

The MILF accused Manila of reneging to its commitment after peace talks was stalled last month in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations.
Security analysts warned violence may erupt if the impasse is not resolved.

"There's danger that the ceasefire mechanism would be weakened the longer the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front take to resolve the impasse," Christopher Collier, an analyst at the Australian National University, told foreign correspondents in Manila.

"There have been changes in the tone and language from both sides," he said.

However, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the "attitude of wanting to agree" between the two panels is still high and he is not over the present state of the talks.
"Di pa tapos ang usapan, yan ang status ng peace talks ngayon," Gonzales told the reporters in Davao City last week.

Gonzales said the "bias of both the government and the MILF is towards peace and not war."
"I don't think that war, as an option, is being discussed at all," he said.

The Arroyo administration pursued the peace negotiations with the MILF after the talks bogged down when former president Joseph Estrada ordered an all-out war against the group in 2000. The offensive led to the seizure of dozens of MILF camps, including their headquarters in Camp Abubakar.

In a text message, Magalso said “we are maintaining active defense by conducting security patrols and fired back at the enemy only when fired as we strictly observe the primacy of the peace process”.

Ceasefire violated, Magalso says

IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay --- Army Brigadier General Jovencio Magalso of 102 Infantry Brigade based here said a “written complaint will be filed before the Committee on Ceasefire and Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH)” for the violation of the ceasefire agreement against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In a text message, Magalso said “a group identified with the MILF occupied an abandoned school house near their satellite camp” in Barangay Lakiki, Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Sibuco town is one of the 13 towns of the 3rd Congressional District of Zamboanga del Norte under the jurisdiction of 102IB.

Police and military officials last week reported that a group of MILF rebels occupied a village of Lakiki in Sibuco town.

Army Colonel William Abao said the group, numbering about 17, occupied the abandoned school house at around 9 o’clock in the evening of January 9 but left the following morning.

Abao, the commanding officer of the 44th Infantry Battalion, described the situation after the incident as “normal and under control”.

They left peacefully after the village officials protested their presence, Abao said in a text message.

“Still, we view the act as a violation of the existing ceasefire agreement between the government and the rebel group,” Magalso asserted, adding that “we are bringing the incident to the attention of the CCCH”.

The ceasefire committees of the government and MILF panels are the ones overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

When asked if the same incident will have spill-over effect in neighboring areas like Zamboanga Sibugay, Magalso said: “Definitely not. That’s why we were telling the group that time to leave the area in order not to create fear and undue panic among the residents”.

Earlier, Magalso, who was one of the four senior military officers under the Western Mindanao Command promoted to one rank higher effective January 1, dismissed the incident as “mere show of force”.

“It is more about massing up of forces but there is nothing to fear because if they wanted something bad, these people will not be going to mass in an open area,” he said.

Magalso said the military could not move against the rebels because they were not threatening the safety of the civilians.

“What we can do is to file a written complaint before the proper body,” he said, referring to government-MILF ceasefire committees.

The peace talks between the government and the MILF was stalled again last month over the sensitive issue of territory.

The MILF accused Manila of reneging to its commitment after peace talks was stalled last month in Malaysia, which is brokering the negotiations.

Mohagher Iqbal, chief MILF peace negotiator, said the government panel earlier agreed on the scope of the Muslim ancestral domain, but reneged on the accord that will constitute a separate homeland for about 4 million Muslims and indigenous tribes in Mindanao.

The MILF said government negotiators headed by General Rodolfo Garcia completely disregarded the agreement on the ancestral domain and insisted again that the granting of homeland to Muslims in Mindanao would solely be through Constitutional process which the rebel group previously opposed.

“This stance of the GRP peace panel has virtually jeopardized the integrity of the peace process and to continue with the talks would virtually turn it into a circus,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal said government leaders opposed to the peace talks should be blamed for the break down in the negotiations.

The Sibuco incident is most likely to happen in situations where the peace talks failed, an MILF ranking official of Zamboanga Sibugay said in a text message.

“At the moment, the peace talk is stalled and its resumption is not yet certain so it is very normal that things like these will happen,” the MILF official, who asked not to be named because he is not in the position to talk to the media, ended.#