Indigenous groups blast ‘incursion' of plantations into ancestral lands

Indigenous peoples are apprehensive about what they see as a “massive incursion of foreign interests” into their ancestral lands, with a multinational company set to make a multimillion-peso investment in a banana plantation in Mindanao. The Office of the Regional Governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recently announced that Del Monte Philippines will invest P579 million in the expansion of a banana plantation on a 550-hectare piece of land in Datu Abdullah Sangki town, Maguindanao. According to ARMM officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman, the venture would generate "at least 3,000 local jobs.” In his speech at the celebration of ARMM’s 23rd anniversary last week, Hataman said that “economic thrust [should] substantiate [the] reform agenda forged for the region,” and invited more foreign and local investments to the region. In his speech, he also mentioned other towns that could be targeted for expansion by banana magnates. However, some indigenous groups are questioning the spread of plantations in the region. Tribal leader Anilaw Inlantong of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, alleged that one John Perrine of banana firm Uni-Frutti Inc. had “been offering economic concessions” to some indigenous leaders “so they would not block the conversion of our ancestral lands into banana plantations.” For Inlantong’s group, which has been aspiring for government recognition of their claimed ancestral lands, allowing the big companies to set up plantations on these lands “would effectively cripple our efforts for the titling of our ancestral lands," said Inlantong. "And, more than that, it would render void the essence of ancestral domain, for how can we govern and implement our customary laws in a plantation of a multi-national corporation which has rigid laws to follow for everyone inside the plantation?” “That is not an expression of self-governance, of self-determination,” he said. Hataman, who will host an investment forum with Malaysian business leaders on November 24, considers the inflow of investments into the ARMM a sign that the region's investment potential is being recognized. — BM, GMA News