Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s dream of turning the troubled and poverty-stricken Paquibato District into a vast Oil Palm production area owned by the people themselves received a boost from a Malaysian Oil Palm expert Tuesday who said the soil in the area is ideal for the crop.
Malaysian Oil Palm expert Siew King Han who has been involved with the industry for 40 years and helped North Cotabato establish its Oil Palm industry visited the Paquibato area Tuesday and conducted a cursory assessment of the soil type of the district.
“I am happy to report to you Mayor that the soil type in this area is ideal for Oil Palm farming. In fact, the soil quality is much better than most Oil Palm areas in Malaysia,” said Han, an agronomist who earned his degree from the University of Malaysia and spent 40 years developing Oil Palm plantations as consultant.
Han’s favorable assessment of the soil quality visibly pleased the City Mayor who later vowed to allocate funds to support the project which aims to turn at least 4,000 hectares of the area, largely believed to be controlled by the New People’s Army (NPA), into an Oil Palm production field which will provide income and employment to the people who own the land.
In a partnership scheme designed by former North Cotabato Governor Manny Pinol, a close friend of Duterte, the City Government will initiate the project through a Plant-Now-Pay-Later program by providing planting materials to the landowners.
The landowners, on the other hand, will allow an Oil Palm investment group composed of local businessmen who are supportive of Duterte’s development initiative to develop the area.
The investors’ group will provide the technical support, fertilizers and pay the wages of the farm owners or their children who will work in the development of the Oil Palm farms.
The investors’ group will also establish and Crude Palm Oil Mill to process the fruits produced from the Paquibato area.
Duterte tapped Pinol in designing the program for the area which he later called “The Paquibato People’s Economic Empowerment Initiative” or “The Paquibato Initiative” because of the latter’s experience in rural development which was largely credited for reducing the poverty incidence in North Cotabato from 52% in 1998 to only 26% when Pinol’s nine-year term ended in 2007.
“I know that many of you here are members of the NPA or at least you have brothers, sisters or relatives who are with the NPA but let us not talk about that. You are in Davao City therefore I am your Mayor and you are my people,” Duterte told the big crowd which gathered from a public forum on The Paquibato Initiative.
“We have been killing each other for so many years. It is now time for us to have peace and work to improve our lives. This was my promise to you – I will not rest until we have achieved peace and progress,” the Mayor said.
“I will allocate funds to ensure that you will have livelihood projects during the years when you are waiting for your Oil Palm to bear fruit. I promise you the City Government will not impose taxes on your farms while you are recovering but I also ask the NPA not to impose revolutionary taxes on the people,” he said.
Duterte said that other areas in the district which are not suitable for Oil Palm because of the slopes could be considered for other crops like rubber trees.
A city-government sponsored forum on Oil Palm farming is scheduled to be held at the Mandaya Hotel after the Kadayawan celebrations with experts in Oil Palm and bank financing as resource speakers.
(Photo caption: Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte receives a report from Malaysian Oil Palm consultant Siew King Han on the Paquibato soil suitability assessment as former North Cotabato Gov. Manny Pinol looks on. Photo by Kiwi Bulaclac.)
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