The New People’s Army (NPA) is still harassing agricultural plantations in Mindanao while there is ongoing peace talks between the government and the communist rebels, according to banana growers in the region.
Banana growers said the rebels are asking money from companies in Mindanao, including agricultural plantations, private contractors, quarrying operators, public market stallholders and small entrepreneurs.
“The amounts range 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.
Some groups from the NPA are reportedly asking for “commission”, ranging from 5 percent to 10 percent, from private contractors doing multimillion-peso projects for the government and private companies.
Hardest-hit
In some provinces of Mindanao, the extortionists even demand revolutionary taxes from barangay captains and municipal mayors and councilors. A number of politicians were reportedly asked to settle unpaid permits to campaign, which became due during the elections in May.
Among the hardest-hit are banana plantations and big transportation companies operating passenger buses and contractors.
Dole-Stanfilco recently shutdown its plantation and packing plants in the northern part of Mindanao after the NPA torched container trucks early this year, because the company refused to pay revolutionary taxes.Just a few months ago one banana company had to close its plantation in Surigao del Sur after losing more than P20 million to the NPA’s burning of their equipment and packing plants since the start of its operation in 2010. The firm’s decision expectedly resulted in worsening of joblessness in the area.
Even President Duterte 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. If it’s not taxation of the communists, it’s extortion of the roving bandits in Mindanao,” Duterte said at the closing ceremonies of the 2016 Banana Congress held in Davao City
in October.
in October.
Big banana plantations have been seeking government support in fighting extortions from the communist rebels who are demanding revolutionary taxes.
The President said Mindanao is the key to driving developments in Philippine agriculture. While mining industries and export processing zones can sprout “everywhere”, Duterte said, “what would make the industry valuable is actually [agriculture in] Mindanao, and only in
Mindanao.”
Mindanao.”
He added that he is bullish about agriculture in the country, and sees that the sector will “make it big in the span of the next 30 years,” provided the country is able to iron out law and order, and stop extortion attempts of bandits on farm owners.
The businessmen, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said the “biggest adverse impact” of revolutionary taxes, apart from the unchecked government red tape and corruption, is on foreign investors invited by Duterte to do business in the Philippines.
Businessmen asking for protection from the military are disappointed that the military and the police can’t help stop the extortion activities after the government declared a unilateral cease-fire as part of the ongoing peace process. They have been ordered to stay in the barracks.
Worried businessmen are concerned what the peace talk could really mean to their businesses, since the rebels are taking advantage of the government’s unilateral cease-fire. They have set up camp in areas near the population centers, recruit new members, extort from big- and small-time businessmen and even conduct medical missions.
The rebels do their illegal activities practically within striking distance of police stations, military detachment and camps, which have been temporarily abandoned due to the declared cease-fire.
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