Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Pineapple turns B'laan clan into millionaire
POLOMOLOK, SOUTH COTABATO -- A B'laan clan here, crawling in poverty for decades, finally strike their first million pesos recently.
No, they didn't hit a gold mine or portion of the fabled Yamashita treasure supposedly hidden at the lush foliage of Mt. Matutum, the landmark peak in the province. The cash, nearly two million pesos, came from planting pineapples.
But it was a tough struggle for the Latimban clan before raking in such money as they have to face a virtual Goliath in the persona of giant firm Dole Philippines Inc. (Dolefil).
Maria Latimban, the clan leader, recalled that Dolefil was their worst enemy as the company planted pineapples to the 17-hectare property owned by their ancestors at Barangay Maligo, here.
"There was a time that clan members even laid their bodies on the ground to prevent the firm's equipment from entering our area to plant pineapple," she disclosed.
At one point also, one of the clan members who could not bear the situation of seeing their land in the hands of others absorbed a mental shock and was brought to a mental asylum.
Dolefil planted pineapple at their land because of a rent contract with the Dolefil Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative, Inc.
Asserting their rights, Latimban said the clan, even without money, decided to embark on a legal battle that eventually turned to their favor.
The courtroom battle was actually between the Latimban clan and five other clans who have been awarded the land owned by the ancestors of Ms. Latimban, by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.
The five other clans became Darbci members and had the land under the cooperative. Dolefil and the cooperative eventually reached a rent scheme.
Latimban said they were angry at Dolefil because the Latimban clan was not getting anything from the land they claimed were theirs.
Jim Villacorta, Dolefil director for agriculture operations, said they advised at the time the Latimban clan to iron out the land ownership problem before the firm would deal with them.
In 2005, after a long and tough battle, the ancestral land was legally awarded to the Latimban clan.
Shortly thereafter, the enemies became friends, as the Latimban clan approached the company and expressed interest to become pineapple growers.
Last month, in a simple ceremony at Dolefil's sprawling plant here, the clan received the fruits of their partnership with the firm. It takes some two years before pineapple can be harvested from the time of planting.
A symbolic giant check was personally awarded by Villacorta to Latimban, as some clan members watched in near tears and others beamed with pride.
"It's our first-million-pesos check," said Virgie Illaga, a clan member and the one who suffered a mental breakdown at the height of the land contest.
Illaga said the check, which was immediately encashed and deposited at a local bank, would be divided among 12 clan members.
"Most of the money will be use to send our children to school. We don't want them to be uneducated like us the elders," she said.
Villacorta said the top management decided to fete the Latimban clan with recognition as an "outstanding grower" due to the legal and emotional battle they have successfully hurdled.
"They have been in too much distress and it is just fitting to recognize their efforts," he added.
Villacorta said that by planting pineapple, the clan earned at least P73,000 per hectare for the plant crop cycle (two years), compared to the P6,000 to P10,000 per hectare per year if the land is planted to corn.
The plant crop cycle is the first cycle for pineapple harvest. The second cycle is called ratoon, which can be harvested 14 months after the plant crop harvest.
After the ratoon cycle, the pineapple plants will be replaced for a new cycle. Dole finances the expenses and buys the harvests.
Villacorta said for the plant crop cycle, 20 percent of the yield is sold in fresh form and the rest are processed. It is five percent fresh for the ratoon cycle.
He, however, noted that in total the earnings of the Latimban clan could have reached about P3 million, as the firm had decided to generally refrain from using mechanical equipment in the clan's pineapple farm.
Villacorta said about P1 million has been shelled out for manual labor, including weeding, harvesting and other farm works.
About 30 members of the clan worked manually in the 17-hectare pineapple farm which has a gross income of P4.5 million during the period, Mr. Villacorta said. "They get paid for their labor."
Some P1.5 million worth of fertilizers and other farm inputs have been consumed for growing the crop at the land of the Latimbans, he added.
"Earning [a net of] about P2 million is impossible [with the size of your farm] if not for you working at the break of dawn until sunset," he told the clan members.
Latimban gave assurances to the company that they would not pull out their lands from its contract-growing scheme, as the venture proves to be economically sound to the clan.
While she vividly recalled a past incident in the 1970s wherein their corn fields were eaten up by cows, Latimban said they are looking at the future with optimism now that they have their lands planted with pineapple.
"These lands we can rightfully and proudly call our own," she said.
