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Blessed Sultan Kudrat

                  Lovely housemates and comrades at RDISK: Siddique and Annafel

These two smiling beautiful people are Siddique and Anafel of RDISK. Yes, they make up my RDISK family. Anafel is also my room mate. She is a very energetic and positive woman with many capabilities. She also is an AWESOME cook. She often goes out of her way to accommodate my vegan requirements. She loves Indian food...high level of tolerance for spice and all things nice. Siddique is a very calm and focused individual. He loves Indian cooking as well. He works with Indigenous people in Columbio in Sultan Kudrat. 

We attended a very informative Agribusiness Forum yesterday with many local government units involved. The agencies involved were the DAR - Department of Agrarian Reform, Sultan Kudrat, Department of Trade and Investment, Sultan Kudrat and the office of the provincial government of Sultan Kudrat. 

This was a programme specially organized for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Programme (CARP) beneficiaries. It was attended by local farmer/crops grower cooperatives.  I was there to understand how these government bodies support and promote the sustainability of the CARP. I was also on the trail of KARBEMPCO and MAPARBEMPCO (refer to earlier posts). 

 It was very informative in the sense it clearly showed the commitment of the Philippines government to push for this poverty eradication programme among rural folks and farmers. It has an immense bearing on the concept of land ownership and being in control of resources. Placing such important resources in the hands of people who actually utilize and depend on it the most. 

 See speech of Mr. Aaron Arumpac - Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer II of Sultan Kudrat here :-

He shared about the need to make CARP a model to be emulated and perpetuated. He talks frankly about the successes and struggles. 

 This event was the brain child of Pabil A. Marohomsalig (PARO Office) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). He is in-charge of looking into the welfare of beneficiaries as well as the sustainability of the programme. 
                                                Mr. Pabil Marohomsalig (PARO Office)

He is larger than life and very passionate about 'the back stories'. In a previous meeting, he shared a great deal about the things which make CARP successful with particular reference to Kenram Plantations. He kept telling me to understand the people and the elements which most researchers fail to capture about a phenomenon, the x factor. He talked about how determined the beneficiaries of Kenram Plantations were to succeed. He also cautioned me by saying 'not all that glitters is gold'. He suggested that I should also consider religious beliefs as a motivating factor of my research subjects. 
I intend to follow up on these topics of discussions with him in the future which I am very certain will be interesting.

                          Left seated: Ven, Pabil, Nelly Nita, Standing left: 2nd left Abs

Abu Bakar Datun, Executive Director of RDISK is a wonderful mentor and friend. He is in a blue t-shirt behind me. He took over the helm of leadership upon the death of the charismatic and enigmatic, Rey G. Magbanua. People still speak with such reverence about Rey, it is very touching. Abs as he is called, is a cool character and takes things in a stride. Despite, the unexpected demise of Rey, he has stepped up to the plate and is slowly pulling the organization together. 

I shared yesterday with Abs about my experiences working with communities, especially dealing with leaders who are patriarchal and overbearing(redundant after patriarchal, I know). He smiles and says 'We do what we can, Jana'. He recounted working on KARBEMPCPO/MAPARBEMPCO struggle. He mentioned that some very doubtful villagers/farmers mentioned that they would undergo a second circumcision if the effort was successful. Such was the distrust RDISK had to overcome, but they worked consistently for 10 years. 

Lots for me to learn from RDISK, they are also interested in organizing community women. I am eager to help as it is my field of interest and I have some humble experience with it. 

Palm Oil in Sultan Kudrat  

I gathered from a presentation from the Department of Trade and Investments (DTI) about the status of Sultan Kudrat's position as a oil palm producer.

                              Presentation on Sultan Kudrat Investment Priority Areas

According to investment brief provided by the DTI:-

Philippines is a net importer of palm oil due to the short fall of domestic supply while also experiencing a continuous increase in domestic demand which exceeds production by 10 % annually. The growth is attributed to the expansion of Philippine food manufacturing industries. However, with the country's current area planted of at least 25,000 hectares, a study conducted showed it should develop at least 30,000 hectares in the next three years in order to achieve self-sufficiency in palm oil. 

The oil palm industry is the 'sunrise' industry in the region. Big companies and individual growers are now into oil palm plantation because of its high return. A hectare of oil palm can produce 4 to 5.5 tons of crude palm oil, which is 5 to 10 times greater than the yield of any commercially - known oil crop.[Insert: 10/8/2012 Price of Crude Palm Oil per tonne - USD $ 914/tonne]. 

 Oil palm plantations are concentrated in Mindanao. Region XIII (53%) has the largest oil palm plantation in the country followed by Region XII (27%) and Region XII (16%). Out of 25, 227 hectares planted, 6,767 hectares is situated in SOCCSARGEN, around 27% of the total area planted.

Domestic demand for palm oil is growing at around 2.18%, from 160, 538 million tonnes in 1994 to 218, 411 million tonnes in 2008. However, the production is decreasing because of senescent or aging trees. Relatively, importation will grow to 220, 000 million tonnes in 2010 if no new areas will be planted.

                                Mr. Pabil (PARO) and Ms, Nelly Nita (Director, DTI-SK)

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