Foreign group urges Aquino to recall bio-ethanol project in Isabela

MANILA, Philippines- A delegation of foreign activists concerned on the impact of bio-ethanol to the environment and people's livelihood rights on Monday presented to the House of Representatives the result of the fact finding mission they conducted on May 29, 2011.

The delegation headed by Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) Secretary General Danilo Ramos met with Anakpawis party list Rep. Rafael Mariano who accepted the report in behelf of the Congress. Later, the delegation will proceed to other government agencies such as the Department of Envrionment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Tomorrow, the delegation will share a copy of their report to the Philippine Senate. The report involves the conversion of 11,000 hectares of agricultural lands in San Mariano, Isabela province, one of the biggest pilot areas tapped by the national government for bio-ethanol development.

Ramos said in the process of carrying out the mission, members of the IFFM confirmed the findings of the national fact finding mission conducted from February 22to 23, 2011 by KMP, DAGAMI and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) about a bio-ethanol project of the Japanese-Filipino corporate consortium Green Future Innovations, Inc. (GFII) and Eco-Fuel Land Development Inc.

Aside from Ramos, the other members of the fact-finding team include Jill Richardson of Organic Consumers Association (USA), Simone Lovera of Global Forest Coalition (Paraguay), Yasuo Aonishi of Action Center for Development and Rights (Japan), Hozue Hatae of Friends of the Earth (Japan) and Ms Tanya Roberts of Philippine Solidarity Network (Canada).

Beefing up the fact finding mission are other representatives from the Philippines involved in agricultural development work namely Ms Feny Cosico of Agham, Ms Edna Maguigad of Searice, Cesar Arellano of Sentra, Wilfredo Marbella of KMP, Ms Rhoda Gueta of the Manila-based Asian Peasant Coalition , Ms Cita Managuelod and Diony Yadao of DAGAMI.

In their submitted report to Congress, the group stated that, “ It became highly evident that residents in the area are gravely concerned with the widespread patterns of landgrabbing, militarization and intensive agro-industrial development serving the interests of agribusiness corporations. The unequivocal concern from local farmers cultivating small plots of corn, rice, fruit and vegetables that emerged was the complete lack of redistributive justice in relation to agrarian reform in San Mariano, and the exacerbation of these historical injustices by the large scale land acquisitions for mono-cropping of sugar cane as initiated under the GFII.”

The mission said the GFII operation is planned to be completed by March 2012, with the plantations, nurseries and processing plant spanning across eleven thousand hectares of prime agricultural lands and even forest restoration areas. It is currently promoted as an environmentally responsible industry that will bring an economic boom to the region, decrease the Philippines’ current reliance on imported bio-fuels and a unique investment which will make Isabela the site of the largest bio-fuel project in the country.

The mission also noted that large percentage of the 11,000 hectares in Isabela targeted for the plantation project were previously and currently occupied and tilled by thousands of farmers in San Mariano and neighbouring towns. Most of the residents of these lands are being displaced by the sugarcane plantation, including beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), Indigenous People with claims to ancestral domain, and land patent holders.”

The mission recorded a first-hand cases of how unscrupulous persons in connivance with the government officials took advantage of the farmers and IPs lacking knowledge about land titling laws and engaged in fraudulent titling schemes. Based on the interviews and focus group discussions held in San Mariano, it is important to underscore that the entry of the bio-ethanol project has meant these communities’ have become increasingly vulnerable to land grabbing and land speculation schemes. More so, that most of the CLOAs are facing foreclosure proceedings by the Land Bank,” the mission added.

“The targeted project area of 11,000 hectares has a potential crop yield of 80-90 cavans/hectares for irrigated lands and 60 cavans/hectares for upland rice. If the project pushes through, it will significantly reduce the food production capacity of the community and cause further encroachment of forest areas as farmers will clear new lands to farm for food,” remarked Diony Yadao, Chairperson, DAGAMI-San Mariano.

“The conversion of lands once allotted for diverse cropping and forest cover will lead to significant carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. It is also a threat to the declared protected areas such as the Sierra Madre Natural Park that covered forest ecosystems of San Mariano. The mission asserted that forest ecosystem, specifically the watershed nourished the river systems that have been providing water resources to the food production of the communities.

"Being located in the north of Luzon, an area where typhoons typically strike on a seasonal basis, also means there would be increased vulnerability of the area to landslides and flooding. The long term social and economic costs to the country, as enumerated above, compounded with ecological impacts will be disastrous,” pointed out by Tanya Roberts from PCFS.

The mission also urged members of the Philippine Parliament of the House and other concerened government department to undertake the following measures: 1. Listen to the farmers, farm workers, and Indigenous Peoples demands to recognise and respect their human rights, in particular to own and till their land and to end the land grabbing and anomalous land titling; 2. Withdraw all state support and endorsement of the GFII bio-fuel project in Isabela. 3. Removal of all military detachments and camps in the populated centres of the barrios.

source: allvoices