October 09, 2013 Manila,Philippines

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Their land and means of livelihood weretaken away from them, their culture trampledupon, all in the name of public-privatepartnerships and foreign corporate interests.

By RONALYN V. OLEABulatlat.com

OPOL, Misamis Oriental – Roel Tagupa, aHigaonon, 41, used to earn just enough tofeed his wife and their two children. On athree-hectare farm located in Tingalan villageof this province, he tended to his crops ofcorn, banana, cassava and coconuts.

Life was peaceful for Tagupa and his familyuntil American firm A. Brown Company, Inc.started planting palm oil in the 520-hectareland where Tagupa and the rest of theHigaonon tribe lived.

Using a Forest Land Grazing LeaseAgreement (FGLA) issued to a local farmer bythe Department of Environment and NaturalResources (DENR), A. Brown encroached intothe ancestral domain of the Higaonon tribe.

Tagupa was one of the Higaonon tribe whojoined the focus group discussions organizedby an international fact-finding mission led byPesticide Action Network (PAN) Asia and thePacific, Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), PeasantMovement of the Philippines (KMP), andKalumbay Regional Lumad Organization. Themission went to the villages of Tingalan andBagocboc on May 6 to 8 and documented theimpact of palm oil plantation on the lives ofHigaonon.

The Higaonon tribe ancestors had been in thearea even before the Spaniards came. In the1950s, many members of the Higaonon tribewere displaced from their lands by a locallandlord who used force to drive them awayand convert their agricultural lands to pasturelands. Over the years, the remaining tribemembers and settlers tilled and made thelands productive.

‘Development’

In February 2011, local DENR officials told theHigaonon tribe that A. Brown has the authority

MAY 10, 2012

US-owned palmoil plantationimpoverishesindigenouspeople in Opol,MisamisOriental

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Roel Tagupa only wants to be able to feedhis family.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea /bulatlat.com)

to develop the land since the holder of FGLAalready issued a special power of attorney toA. Brown’s subsidiary, Nakeen Corporation.The said the lease agreement is set toexpire in 2016. In 2010, the lease agreementwas cancelled and the local DENR categorizedthe land as forest land.

In a dialogue with members of the fact-findingmission with DENR national office, JoeyAustria, chief of the DENR’s indigenouscommunity affairs, said that A. Brown has notfiled any application regarding the use of theland. Austria said that only forest trees andnot palm oil can be planted on the land.

At first, the company offered to pay theHigaonons P9,000 ($209) per hectare for a 25-year lease. A Brown also promised to build ahospital and provide scholarships for thechildren. None of these has been fulfilled.

Tagupa was among those who tried to applyas a security guard in the plantation. Aftercompleting all the requirements, A. Browntold him to plant palm oil on his land and hewould receive P200 ($4.65) per day. Herefused, saying he would never plant palm oilon his land. “How would I feed my children if Iagreed to them?” he told Bulatlat.com in aseparate interview.

The others who were accepted as laborerswere promised regular jobs in the plantationbut were only given contractual work or workon a piecemeal basis. They are paid belowthe minimum wage – P247 or $5.74 per day,while the minimum wage for agriculture workin Opol is P264 or $6.14 per day– and are notgiven the emergency cost of living allowance.They have no protective equipment,exposing them and the whole community tohazardous chemicals.

Tagupa and the rest of those who refused toplant palm oil experienced various forms ofharassment (see related story). Eventually,Tagupa and those who opposed the plantationwere driven away from their farms.

Effects

Without land to till, they have becomefarmworkers, working in other people’s farmsto earn a living.

“I work so hard but no matter what I do, Icannot feed my family well,” Tagupa said.

Another farmer, Marjen Pangalo, 33, toldmembers of the mission, “Crisis. That is whatpalm oil brought to us.”

Women like Marjen Pangalo are the mostaffected during times of economiccrisis.(Photo by Ronalyn V. Olea /bulatlat.com)

What used to be the sacred site of theHigaonon tribe had been quarried by A.Brown Company Inc.(Photo by TerenceKrishna V. Lopez / bulatlat.com)

Pangalo said she initially allowed A. Brown toplant palm oil on a portion of their farm. “Thecompany said they would allow us to continueplanting banana. We were surprised when abarangay official who favors the palm oilordered the cutting down of our trees, sayingA. Brown has the right over the land,” Pangalosaid.

“Before, we had food. We could plant corn.Now, even bananas and cassava are eatenby rats,” Pangalo said. The residents noticedthe significant increase in the number of ratsand other pests since the palm oil plantationbegan.

These days, Pangalo, a mother of threechildren, grabs every job available to feed herfamily. She would take out weeds in otherpeople’s farms to augment the family’sincome.

Pangalo also complained that pests anddiseases have afflicted their crops. The fact-finding mission documented A. Brown’s use ofhighly hazardous pesticides carbofuran andfuradan, which are known to be carcinogenic,neurotoxic, and destroys the immunesystem. (see related video: )

A stream that served as a water source forcooking and washing became contaminatedwith agrochemicals, residents of Tingalanvillage said. The residents have sincestopped using the stream because theynoticed that people were getting sick withabdominal pains and diarrhea.

Residents around the plantation experiencedan increase in incidences of cough and coldsand various skin diseases. During spraying ofchemicals in the plantation, residents alsoexperience nausea and headache.

Besides the economic difficulties, thecompany also encroached on their culture.Two of their traditional sacred areas weredesecrated and destroyed. A balete tree thatmarked their burial ground and ritual area wascut down by A. Brown personnel. A sacred hill

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was quarried for A. Brown’s road construction.

“Every fiesta, the local government wouldinvite us to town to perform dances but whenit’s about our land problem, they do notrecognize us as indigenous peoples,” Tagupasaid.

The local indigenous people’s groupPangalasag sought the help of the regionaloffice of the National Commission onIndigenous Peoples (NCIP), raising theabsence of free, prior and informed consent(FPIC). However, the NCIP officials establishedanother group of indigenous peoples who arein favor of the palm oil plantation.

In a dialogue with members of the fact-findingmission, May 8, Opol Mayor Dexter Yasay,said palm oil plantation and the rest of thePublic-Private Partnership projects of theAquino administration, bring ‘development’ tothe people. He refused, however, to listen tothe members of the mission about the keyfindings.

“Our government is being used as tool tofacilitate the entry of A. Brown, while farmersare being driven away from their lands. This isa concrete manifestation of PresidentAquino’s Private-Public Partnership program,which prioritizes the interests of agro-industryover the rights of farmers and indigenouspeoples,” said Antonio Flores, National Councilmember of KMP and one of the members ofthe fact-finding mission.

The fact-finding mission called for the pull-outof A. Brown and the immediate return offarmers and indigenous peoples to their landsand justice for victims of human rightsviolations. They also called for an end toglobal landgrabbing and land use conversion;and to uphold food sovereignty.

“We are determined to fight. Even if we getcrippled, we would stand up using our hands,”Tagupa said, almost teary-eyed.

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9 thoughts on “US-owned palm oilplantation impoverishesindigenous people in Opol,Misamis Oriental”

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jingo Tamayao on June 21, 2012 at 12:57pm said:

We’ve concluded the fact-findingmission involving a land grab inOpol and the report can bedownloaded here:http://www.panap.net/sites/default/files/SO-2012June-TheRealTrespassers.pdfPlease also participate in theonline petition to give back theland to the people here:http://www.panap.net/en/fs/page/food-sovereignty/1130Thank you!

Kalamputi on May 15, 2012 at 4:30 pmsaid:

My question-my only question-was regarding the nationality ofA. Brown, nothing more. What A.Brown is doing in Misamis Oriental(and presumably elsewhere),according to Ms. Olea, is clearlyverging on the criminal.As will be clear to anyone whoregularly reads Bulatlat-journalismfor the people- their articlesgenerally detail the struggles ofthe minority, providing a bullhornfor those who too often strugglein silence, whose protests mayotherwise go unseen and unheard(except here, on these pages). Somy advice, if you want to hearfrom those poor, wrongly-maligned companies like A. Brown,try the pages of Fortune 500 ormore conventional news outlets.As for me, I’m here for theminority perspective, which israrely heard. I commend Ms. Oleafor continued good, necessaryreporting.

Ralph Lorenzo on May 15, 2012 at 9:41am said:

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Ronalyn, please answer thequestion, and please postcomments even if these are notfavorable to you:How come you did not try to getthe side of A Brown?

Ralph Lorenzo on May 14, 2012 at 8:18pm said:

Right. Ronalyn Olea, you owe usyour readers an explanation. Whyis not the side of the companyyou attacked not shown here?How do we know you are notattack/collect “journalists” out tofleece innocent victims?Come on, tell us why your storyis one-sided.

gino agora on May 14, 2012 at 2:36 pmsaid:

Hi, Ronalyn. By any chance, haveyou tried to get the side of ABrown?I’ve gone over your article, andthe research is evident, but Idon’t see anything about theother side, something that I’dnormally find in an article like this.

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Kalamputi on May 10, 2012 at 6:55 pmsaid:

This is a Filipino company, notAmerican-at least, according totheir website.

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