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Oil palm farmers debunk env’mntal group’s claim VOL. 2, No. 226
By Ruffy Magbanua
CAGAYAN DE ORO --- A respected leader in oil palm farming has debunked claim of environmental groups that oil palm plantations cause massive flooding in Mindanao. Areas planted with oil palm in Mindanao are logged-over areas, unlike in Indonesia and Malaysia where rainforests are destroyed to give way for oil palm plantations, said Dr. Pablito Pamplona, a retired professor of the University of Southern Mindanao and a planter of oil palm. “We do not destroy Mindanao’s rainforests, what we develop are those loggedover areas left by loggers in the 70s and 80s,” Dr. Pamplona said. Oil palm farming mitigates rather than aggravates climate change. Extensive scientific studies show that oil palm plantations provide similar environmental mitigating effect as the tropical virgin forests in terms of less fluctuation of daily relative humidity and temperature, he said. Dr. Pamplona also serves as secretary and director of the Philippine Palm Oil Development Council Inc.
Cagayan de Oro City
Friday
(PPDCI). To put the blame on oil palm plantations for the recent flooding in Mindanao is just like killing the oil palm farming, considered as the country’s sunrise industry, the crop being dubbed as miracle palm tree of Asia, he said. MISUNDERSTO OD CROP Dr Pamplona however admitted though that due to its high potential yield, oil palm is not a well-understood crop in the Philippines. “This crop faces negative perception brought about by untrue and distorted information being spread out by some individuals in the guise of environmental concern,” he said. These so-called environmentalists are doing disservice to the poor Filipino farmer whose livelihood can be greatly improved through oil palm farming, Pamplona said. The untrue and distorted facts being spread out must be corrected to place oil palm farming in the right perspective considering the current huge shortage of cooking oil in the country, now being filled up by importation from Malaysia and Indonesia, he said.
Dr. Pamplona cited A Brown Company, Inc which had planted only 500 hectares of oil palm in Tingalan, Opol, Misamis Oriental, not 11,350 hectares as falsely reported by a certain Dr. Phares Parayno of Miriam College in the PDI issue of February 3, 2013. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP A Brown through its subsidiary A Brown Energy Resources Inc (ABERDI) has developed a community partnership with the people of Opol, Misamis Oriental including the tribal community in the area. Those complaining are notorious people disguised as members of Higaonon tribe who managed to illegally occupy and sell a portion of a former pasture land, now converted into oil palm plantation by ABERDI. For six years now, ABERDI has been in the forefront of employment generation in Kalabugao, Impasugong, Bukidnon and lately, in Tingalan, Opol, Misamis Oriental, and soon in Tignapoloan, Cagayan de Oro. Employed as field maintenance workers of ABERDI’s
live streaming press conference between the Davaobased and the Manila-based media. Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Soliman, World Bank Country Director Mo-
too Konishi and Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Lualhati Antonino served as panelists of the press conference which was physically held at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City, but which was broadcasted live at the World Bank office
claim | page 8
Dev’t forum ends with vote of confidence to Davao City’s BPO By Carmencita A. Carillo
DAVAO CITY--Unknown to the organizers, the 2013 Philippine Development Forum (PDF) ended with a vote of confidence to Davao City’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry through the conduct of a
forum | page 10
February 8, 2013
P10.00
An ABrown Palm Oil plantation in Bukidnon.
DENR stops BFI’s extraction, transport of pine tree resins By Walter I. Balane
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews— The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has seized 500 sacks of Benguet pine tree resins weighing around 30,000 kilograms from a Chinese contractor of the government-owned Bukidnon Forest, Inc. (BFI). Vergilino Alima, DENRMalaybalay chief, told MindaNews the recent seizure came after warnings to BFI general manager Reynaldo Abordo to stop the extraction of resins due to lack of permit. He identified the Davao denr | page 10
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