|
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Bad weather blocks Arroyo's visit to Makilala
By Malu Cadelina Manar
MAKILALA, North Cotabato -- The scheduled visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo here Monday was called off due to bad weather, the Media Affairs Relations Office (Maro) said.
Gerry Eser of Maro told the press that instead of proceeding to Makilala town, the President will travel by land to Polomolok town in South Cotabato to attend the meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Central Mindanao.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
In her visit to Makilala, President Arroyo was supposed to be briefed about the situation of the rubber industry in North Cotabato, the country's rubber industry capital.
Jack Sandique, one of the prominent businessmen in Central Mindanao who is engaged in the development of rubber, was tasked to give the briefing. He owns vast hectares of rubber plantation and a rubber buying station in Makilala.
North Cotabato, according to Sandique, produces about 600 kilos of dried rubber per hectare in a year, about half of the country's total production.
Some 40 percent of the total production comes from Sandique farm, records showed.
During his presentation, Sandique introduced to local government officials, businessmen, and agriculture officials in the region a new technology in rubber production, which he adopted from his learning abroad.
"It's so unfortunate that many of those engaged in rubber production used vintage and pre-war technology," he said, stressing the need to upgrade the machinery to improve and increase production.
"This is why we need strong technical intervention and other support from the National Government to make this plan work," added Sandique.
Since 2005, the Provincial Government of North Cotabato, then under the leadership of former governor and now vice governor Manny Piñol, initiated the "Plant Now Pay Later Scheme," which helped a number of rubber planters in the province.
The Provincial Government hopes to expand the rubber plantation to about 100 hectares in the coming years.
The plan is to increase rubber production from 1,200 to 2,000 kilos of dried rubber per hectare in a year, according to Sandique, who also works as consultant of the Provincial Government's rubber development project. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (July 22, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Comelec conducts Armm mock polls