THE 56th Infantry Battalion reported that over 2,638 indigenous peoples (IPs) families from 70 sitios in Talaingod, Davao del Norte have lost their primary source of income after buyers stopped sourcing daratex abaca from them after it did not meet their quality standards.
“Naghihirap po talaga ‘yong mga tao. Kailangan pa po talagang mag-focus sa krisis na ito. Sa ngayon under control pa mo namin, pero kung hindi pa po ito ma-address at masuportahan may tendency po talaga na ma-exploit ang issue na ito ng kabila (They are suffering from this and there is a need to put focus in this crisis. Right now, we are able to manage it. But if this will not be addressed, they can be exploited by others),” 1Lt. Joben Mijares, acting Civil Military Operations (CMO) officer, said in an interview with SunStar Davao on January 20, 2023.
The IP farmers produce daratex abaca or also known as fake abaca, a variety of abaca fiber that has been crossbred between abaca and pakol, which is a native banana variety,
Mijares said the incident started in October 2022, when the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (Philfida) sent a letter to buyers that it will suspend the issuance of permits to transport fiber (PTF) for daratex abaca from the affected communities.
“Nagsulat po sa kanila ‘yong isang company na bumibili ng abaca at nagi-export sa labas ng bansa na ipa-identify at i-resuspend ang pagbigay ng permit to transport of fiber (PTF) sa mga abaca farmers na galing po dito (The company buying abaca from them wrote a letter informing them that the PTF of the abaca farmers from this area has been resuspended),” he said.
He added that a week later, the company sent another letter to Philfida that they will no longer buy abaca fiber in Davao Region as the daratex variety, which the farmers use, are of local quality and does not meet the quality standards of the buyer.
“Kaya biglang nagkaroon ng stop buying or biglang bumagsak yong presyohan ng abaca from P70 to P80, bumagsak agad ng P40 (When they stopped buying, the price plummeted from around P70 to P80 to now P40),” he said.
Mijares said the farmers were already informed by Philfida even before the buyer stopped buying from them. The farmers have been told to shift from daratex to tambongon variety farmers refused since the cultivation of the tambongon required full attention, weather consideration, and takes time before it can be harvested.
The army official said there are still buyers who source their abaca fiber from the farmers in Talaingod but these are being sold at a lower price.
“P40 per kilo lang ‘yong bili and then hindi narin masyadong nagpo-produce ng abaca kasi malayo yong lalakarin nila for hours tapos ibabyahe nila ng motor, then makukuha nila is P2,000 lang, saktong pambayad lang pamasahe (The price right now is just P40 per kilogram and they opted not to produce and supply abaca as their efforts would only get them a profit of P2,000 which is enough to pay for the fare of transporting their products),” he said.
Mijares said since buyers stopped sourcing abaca fiber from the farmers, a father of nine kids took his life as he was pressured to sustain his family’s needs. Some students also stopped studying because their parents could not send them to school.
Meanwhile, Mijares said the local government unit of Talaingod, 56IB, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) were able to come up with intermediate intervention and a long term plan for the affected families.
Mijares said the affected families were allowed to scavenge grains in the rice fields in Asuncion, Davao del Norte.
Affected families also received food packs, cash assistance, crops, and skills training to produce skilled workers.
However, Mijares said they are still having a hard time sustaining the needs of the families. The families will have to wait 18 to 24 months to be able to harvest the tambongon abaca crop that has been planted according to the standard of Philfida. During these times they have no income. KSD