Banana-growing giant Chiquita-Unifrutti is ploughing ahead with a 4,000ha farm costing some US$120m at a former guerrilla army stronghold in the Philippine’s war-torn Maguindanao province in Mindanao, before peace in the embattled area is secured, reports Business World online.
The company, which supplies bananas and pineapples for Chiquita Brands International in Asia, wants to expand plantations at Camp Abubakar in the Bangsamoro region, an area which the Philippine government and terrorist organisation the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) have fought over for four decades.
A peace treaty was signed last March, in which the Philippine government agreed to make Bangsamoro an autonomous region for the Muslim population of Mindanao. In exchange, Milf agreed to decommission its weapons.
Milf began its disarmament process on Sunday (28 September), and the Philippine government is still finalising how the new self-governing region will be run.
But Chiquita-Unifrutti told Business World it would not wait for the peace process to be completed before doing business in the new territory.
Edgar L Bullecer, Chiquita-Unifruitti senior vice-president, said the company decided to expand its presence in the Camp Abubakar area following the success of an earlier investment in a 1,000ha farm in Maguindanao province, in partnership with the Paglas family.
“Investing in what used to be the Milf camp is significant because we have been pushing for peace and development as a solution to armed conflict,” Bullecer said.
“We will be able to provide employment and income to at least 6,000 people,” he added.
The company started investing in Maguindanao when it partnered with the late Datu Ibrahim P Paglas III, founder of La Frutera, which employs former insurgents, according to the report.
Paglas told BusinessWorld in 2010 that the family entered into the partnership for the development of their estate and help provide employment in the community.
“The armed struggle can be partly solved if there is a good livelihood opportunity,” Paglas said at the time.
The peace agreement is expected to attract further investment in Bangsamoro, Business World said.
Chief government negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer told the paper that economic transition in the Bangsamoro territory would take time but said steps were being taken to spur investment.
“There are certain areas in the prospective core territory of the Bangsamoro that are ready for the turnaround, although admittedly there would still be some areas where public safety and order would remain particularly problematic for some time. But one cannot wait to have a perfect situation all around,” Ferrer told BusinessWorld
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