Arroyo wants more foreign investors in NoCot rubber industry

MAKILALA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is hopeful that foreign investment on rubber production will pour in North Cotabato, according to Congressman Bernardo Piñol Jr from the province’s second district. Quoting the President, Piñol said a Manila-based foreign investor is interested in buying some 100,000 hectares of land in North Cotabato for rubber production. Piñol was with President Arroyo when she visited Tuesday morning the Rubber Platinum Development, Inc. in Sitio Del Asuncion in Poblacion village here. The rubber farm is owned by the Sandique family. President Arroyo arrived at the Makilala Central Elementary School in Poblacion around 9:45 a.m. and proceeded to the site situated about a kilometer away from the highway. The President was all smiles when she was briefed about the situation of rubber industry in North Cotabato. During the briefing, Jack Sandique, one of the owners of the Sandique rubber farm, informed President Arroyo how rubber farming is helping poor farmers cope with poverty. As proof, Sandique introduced to her a couple – Concordia and Pedro Faviolas – that he said was able to send six children in private schools and completed their college studies through rubber farming. “A rubber is more than an automated teller machine (ATM). When the rubber latex drops from the bark, money continues to pour in,” said Sandique. An ordinary rubber tapper earns from P500 to P600 a day, a hundred percent more than the basic daily pay of an ordinary private worker, Sandique said. Sandique, however, stressed the need of government intervention in improving rubber production technology. He said that most of the rubber farmers use pre-war or vintage technology in farming. “This is the reason why the country produces only 1,200 kilos of dried rubber per hectare in a year. If we improve our technology, we would be able to increase production by 40 to 50 percent,” he said. The Sandique rubber plantation, about 400 hectares in area, is able to produce 30 to 40 percent of the total output of rubber. - GMANews.TV