DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 14 Aug) - To offer alternative options to the more prominent tourist destinations in Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, travel agencies and tour operators in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) will formally converge this year to develop and market innovative and competitive tour packages across the EAGA.
Focusing on Culture, Adventure and Nature (CAN), the establishment of the BIMP-EAGA Consortium of Tour Operators and Travel Agents is projected by the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council (BETC) as a strategic arm that will seek ways to maximize the region’s potentials as an alternative to mainstream tourist destinations in Asia.
This was one of the major results of the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Value Chain Seminar and the 4th BIMP-EAGA Joint Tourism Development Cluster Meeting held last month in Brunei Darussalam.
The consortium’s function in maximizing EAGA’s potentials as a tourist destination will be further explored on Wednesday's roundtable discussion on BIMP-EAGA CAN in Davao City, as part of an effort to establish joint tourism marketing and promotions for Mindanao and Palawan.
Mary Ann Montemayor, chairperson of the Philippine side of the BIMP-EAGA Tourism Council (BETC), said the meeting will identify major CAN destinations in Mindanao and Palawan that will be the major focus of marketing and promotion in BIMP-EAGA with Davao City, Zamboanga City and Palawan province as gateways.
As the consortium will be officially launched during the 3rd BIMP-EAGA TRAVEX in November 2007 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, BETC Chairs have now started tapping active travel tour operators and travel agents for membership.
For the Philippine side of the BETC, three tourism organization heads from the Davao Association of Tour Operators (DATO), Davao Tourism Association Agencies (DTAA), and the National Association Independence of Travel Agents (NAITAS), Davao, have already given their commitment to the consortium.
The DOT regional directors in Mindanao and Palawan, on the other hand, will identify their respective travel agents and tour operators for the consortium.
Montemayor said the identified consortium may be able to develop competitive tour packages on certain conditions.
First, commercial flights should be made available, as this will set the cost of the tour package. While travel agents can still develop tour packages without ready flights, the competitiveness will be in question, given the cost to be considered for connecting flights.
Second, should flights be available, acceptable arrangements would have to be undertaken by airline companies with tour operators and travel agents, particularly on promotional ticket rates.
And third is the presence of committed travel agents who could vigorously sell these tour packages in the market, should be secured. Once these conditions are met, the consortium will be able to develop competitive tour packages for BIMP-EAGA.
But with the threats of terrorism and kidnappings of foreigners and the constant travel warnings by Western and Asian embassies on their citizens in the troubled refion of Mindanao and Sulu Archipelago, tourists may be forced to skip the Philippines from their itinerary.
Showing posts with label MEDco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MEDco. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Militant Group Refutes MEDCO Statement On Mining Industry
DAVAO CITY – The militant party list group, Anakpawis, on Friday refuted the Mindanao Economic Development Council's (MEDCO) that the infusion of foreign funding in the local mining industry would boost Mindanao’s economy.
Editha Duterte, the group’s spokesperson, explained that MEDCO's “two-pill solution” will solely benefit foreign capitalists while the natural resources and labor force would bleed dry.
"Anakpawis Party-list and all its member organizations and alliances have been unrelentingly campaigning for years already about the adverse consequences of selling out our abundant resources to foreign direct investments."
"This comes as a surprise to us because it is essentially contradictory to their statement regarding NEDA Secy. Alfonso Neri's bid to partner Mindanao’s economy to 'big brother' economies," Duterte said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
MEDCO earlier this month debunked Neri's opinion, saying that Mindanao's economy is unequipped to contend with rich countries' economies. "MEDCO was short in pointing out that we should strengthen our own economy instead of allowing foreign companies to exploit our resources."
Duterte said that foreign direct investments are eating up local economy because the small and medium businesses can never compete with the capital funding and technology of transnational companies.
"How many of our small-scale mining industries have closed down due to the aggression of foreign mining companies?" she asked.
"Instead of helping our home-grown economy, we kill it by letting foreigners exploit our natural resources. Worse, these foreign industries are afforded with onerous tax holidays and meager to no tariffs while our local businessmen are wrung out with stringent tax obligations. What have the foreign mining companies given to Mindanaoan's in the past decades?"
"These companies have dislocated Filipinos from their lands and extracted them from their livelihood. In Southern Mindanao alone, seven areas have been direly affected by the forceful entry of these foreign mining industries to date. In fact, transnational companies are one of the most repressive and anti-worker capitalists in the region." Duterte said.
Editha Duterte, the group’s spokesperson, explained that MEDCO's “two-pill solution” will solely benefit foreign capitalists while the natural resources and labor force would bleed dry.
"Anakpawis Party-list and all its member organizations and alliances have been unrelentingly campaigning for years already about the adverse consequences of selling out our abundant resources to foreign direct investments."
"This comes as a surprise to us because it is essentially contradictory to their statement regarding NEDA Secy. Alfonso Neri's bid to partner Mindanao’s economy to 'big brother' economies," Duterte said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
MEDCO earlier this month debunked Neri's opinion, saying that Mindanao's economy is unequipped to contend with rich countries' economies. "MEDCO was short in pointing out that we should strengthen our own economy instead of allowing foreign companies to exploit our resources."
Duterte said that foreign direct investments are eating up local economy because the small and medium businesses can never compete with the capital funding and technology of transnational companies.
"How many of our small-scale mining industries have closed down due to the aggression of foreign mining companies?" she asked.
"Instead of helping our home-grown economy, we kill it by letting foreigners exploit our natural resources. Worse, these foreign industries are afforded with onerous tax holidays and meager to no tariffs while our local businessmen are wrung out with stringent tax obligations. What have the foreign mining companies given to Mindanaoan's in the past decades?"
"These companies have dislocated Filipinos from their lands and extracted them from their livelihood. In Southern Mindanao alone, seven areas have been direly affected by the forceful entry of these foreign mining industries to date. In fact, transnational companies are one of the most repressive and anti-worker capitalists in the region." Duterte said.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Indonesia Opens New Mindanao Air Route
DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 30 Nov) – Trade officials from the Philippines and the Indonesia hailed the launching of a new air route between the two countries.
An Indonesian airliner, Sriwijaya Air, launched its maiden flight from Manado to Davao City in the southern Philippines on Thursday. Both countries are members of the East Asean Growth Area along with Brunei and Malaysia.
Filipino officials said the new air link was part of an agreement signed by the two countries during a trade mission under the Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani (JAGS-CT) Cooperation Triangle to Indonesia in September.
"The new additional flight directly connecting Davao and Manado is an affirmation of growing vibrancy on the potentials for tourism, trade and investment within the BIMP-EAGA,” Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), said in a statement.
The Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air uses Boeing 737-200 to provide an alternate service the Davao-Manado route, which is currently being served by Merpati Airlines. For its regular run, Sriwijaya is scheduled to fly every Monday and Thursday, arriving in Davao City at 01000 hrs and leaving for Manado at 01045 hrs.
The airline can accommodate 124 passengers and cargo of up to 3.5 tons. The new Davao-Manado route adds to the existing air and sea linkages between Mindanao and Indonesia.
Last month, both countries also opened a sea route from Glan town in Sarangani province to Tahuna in Bitung, Indonesia.
"Sriwijaya's Davao-Manado flight is expected to contribute to our aim of enhancing trade and socio-cultural links between the two nations. I hope this air route will be sustained, as it will certainly boost Mindanao's ties with Indonesia," Leyretana said.
Filipino and Russian’s Mosphil Aero Inc. this month also announced a plan to add new routes in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia and probably other countries in Southeast Asia. Mosphil said it is only waiting the signing of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights by members of the sub-regional trade bloc of the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Growth Area (EAGA) during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu City next month.
Glenn Lamela, Mosphil's director on marketing and sales, said the new routes will even include those outside the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Philippines- East ASEAN Growth Area or the BIMP-EAGA structure.
"The signing of the fifth freedom traffic right will allow us to operate internal flights within the four member countries of the BIMP-EAGA, and this is a big opportunity for us," Lamela told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Mindanao Business Council said that the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights agreement will focus on the establishment of scheduled passenger services between Davao City-Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam) and between Pontianak (Indonesia)-Kuching (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam).
Lamela said Mosphil is also planning to launch the Zamboanga-Kota-Kinabalu- Brunei, and Davao-Kota-Kinabalu-Manado routes and local flights from Zamboanga to Davao, Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga-Cebu, Cotabato-IloIlo, and Boracay-Zamboanga routes.
"It is our priority to strengthen and materialize the traffic and the air-linkages within the BIMP-EAGA. The Philippine government is looking at Mosphil as the model to be presented during the ASEAN summit comes this December," Lamela said.
Mosphil is currently operating the Zamboanga-Jolo route twice a week. It opened the flight just in September. "We wanted to increase the inflow of traffic to Zamboanga City," Lamela said, adding they wanted to establish Zamboanga City as hub of Mosphil operation. (Mindanao Examiner)
An Indonesian airliner, Sriwijaya Air, launched its maiden flight from Manado to Davao City in the southern Philippines on Thursday. Both countries are members of the East Asean Growth Area along with Brunei and Malaysia.
Filipino officials said the new air link was part of an agreement signed by the two countries during a trade mission under the Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani (JAGS-CT) Cooperation Triangle to Indonesia in September.
"The new additional flight directly connecting Davao and Manado is an affirmation of growing vibrancy on the potentials for tourism, trade and investment within the BIMP-EAGA,” Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo), said in a statement.
The Jakarta-based Sriwijaya Air uses Boeing 737-200 to provide an alternate service the Davao-Manado route, which is currently being served by Merpati Airlines. For its regular run, Sriwijaya is scheduled to fly every Monday and Thursday, arriving in Davao City at 01000 hrs and leaving for Manado at 01045 hrs.
The airline can accommodate 124 passengers and cargo of up to 3.5 tons. The new Davao-Manado route adds to the existing air and sea linkages between Mindanao and Indonesia.
Last month, both countries also opened a sea route from Glan town in Sarangani province to Tahuna in Bitung, Indonesia.
"Sriwijaya's Davao-Manado flight is expected to contribute to our aim of enhancing trade and socio-cultural links between the two nations. I hope this air route will be sustained, as it will certainly boost Mindanao's ties with Indonesia," Leyretana said.
Filipino and Russian’s Mosphil Aero Inc. this month also announced a plan to add new routes in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia and probably other countries in Southeast Asia. Mosphil said it is only waiting the signing of the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights by members of the sub-regional trade bloc of the East Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Growth Area (EAGA) during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu City next month.
Glenn Lamela, Mosphil's director on marketing and sales, said the new routes will even include those outside the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Philippines- East ASEAN Growth Area or the BIMP-EAGA structure.
"The signing of the fifth freedom traffic right will allow us to operate internal flights within the four member countries of the BIMP-EAGA, and this is a big opportunity for us," Lamela told the Mindanao Examiner.
The Mindanao Business Council said that the Fifth Freedom Traffic Rights agreement will focus on the establishment of scheduled passenger services between Davao City-Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam) and between Pontianak (Indonesia)-Kuching (Malaysia)-Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam).
Lamela said Mosphil is also planning to launch the Zamboanga-Kota-Kinabalu- Brunei, and Davao-Kota-Kinabalu-Manado routes and local flights from Zamboanga to Davao, Zamboanga-Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga-Cebu, Cotabato-IloIlo, and Boracay-Zamboanga routes.
"It is our priority to strengthen and materialize the traffic and the air-linkages within the BIMP-EAGA. The Philippine government is looking at Mosphil as the model to be presented during the ASEAN summit comes this December," Lamela said.
Mosphil is currently operating the Zamboanga-Jolo route twice a week. It opened the flight just in September. "We wanted to increase the inflow of traffic to Zamboanga City," Lamela said, adding they wanted to establish Zamboanga City as hub of Mosphil operation. (Mindanao Examiner)
Monday, November 06, 2006
Seaweed Farmers Search For Greener Pasture (Second of 3 parts)
ZAMBOANGA CITY (Uly Israel / 06 Nov) - While it is true that seaweed farming offers tremendous potentials for marginal income earners in the Philippines to stave off poverty, the emergence of globalization, the gnawing structural defects and the concomitant exploitation of farmers by those who have the means to manipulate prices – all add up to sustaining if not worsening poverty in the coastal areas, a seaweed specialist claimed.
The seaweed industry’s contribution to the country’s foreign exchange earnings has been significant thus seaweed is hailed as one of the most successful marine products in recent years, said Virgilio L. Leyretana, chief of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco).
According to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) records, the Philippines is the leading supplier of Eucheuma seaweeds, accounting for about 80 percent of the total world supply.
“But while exporters, traders and processors are making it big in the world market, the industry remain just a mere provider of less than minimum basic needs for its farmers,” Dr. Sitti Amin M. Jain said in her book
“The Seaweeds Industry”.“The huge demand fueled by the increasing requirements of multinationals and countries that are now plucking every raw dried seaweed that the Philippines can produce may have a good impact on farmers if structural defects within the local seaweed industry are corrected,” Dr. Jain said.
Otherwise, Jain asserts, “benefits from the huge exports of seaweeds will only accrue to traders and some unscrupulous middlemen and buyers who supply giant multinationals, Third World countries will continue to be mere sources of cheap labor and raw materials sustaining if not worsening poverty, just as the farmers will continue to be in the system periphery toiling hard for rich traders and processors in exchange for mere survival.”
“Much has been reported of the success of the industry but there is no known study on the economic status of poor farmers who have toiled for generations to provide for traders, exporters and processors and swell the coffers of the national economy with foreign earnings… the problem and survival prospects of seaweeds farmers were never highlighted or paid attention to by the major players of the industry or by the government,” she lamented.
Is her book a condemnation of the whole laissez faire system? Not really, she hopes that the result of her rigorous research would provide reliable basis for industry players and development planners to address the economic condition of seaweed farmers and their families whose survival largely depend on the industry.
Her study was conducted in Zamboanga Peninsula Region which is the second largest supplier of seaweeds in the country next to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The entire Mindanao area produced in 2002 a total of 524,611 metric tons (MT) almost 60 percent of the total Philippine production of 894,859 MT.While Visayas and Luzon accounted for 40 percent with a production of 370,245 MT based on the data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics of the Department of Agriculture.
Dr. Jain said the story of the seaweed industry is an interesting one. It started in 1972 when seaweeds and the derivative carrageenan burst into the economic stage with a bang and a lot of promise.
Driving them into center stage was the versatility of the product that was a staple of the food and pharmaceutical industries as well as huge and diverse demand for it overseas swell.
She said: “Along shorelines, seaweed farms sprouted up and a new breed of farmers and traders was born. Large modern warehouses and processing facilities swallowed up the dried seaweeds that filled up to the brim the container vans from the south.“
New fortunes were made but the big slice of the industrial pie went to the processors and exporters. The farmers of the south, the suppliers of raw materials, ironically got the crumb and the leavings. The picture has not changed since then.
“The story of the industry may write a new chapter when the big players discover, hopefully not belatedly that the seaweed rainbow in the sky will continue to glow only when those at its base get to share more of the rewards.”
Dr. Jain observed that the seaweed industry faces serious problems and challenges ranging from declining production to deteriorating quality of seaweed produced by the farmers.
A study made by the University of Asia and Pacific (UAP), revealed that the industry is facing high incidence of low farm productivity, poor qualityof seaweeds due to early harvesting.
The farmers also used salt and stones to increase product weight and other malpractices. The study also emphasized the lack of industry-wide quality standards for raw seaweeds inadequate technical services and training on planting, harvesting and drying and lack of farm or village levels of post-harvest and drying facilities.
Dr. Jain countered that these problems related to the capacity and capability of the farmers to appropriately manage highly productive farms and quality produce might have stemmed from farmers’ poverty, vulnerability, powerlessness, isolation, and even physical weakness which resulted in the inability to cultivate bigger farm areas, the promotion of premature harvests, improper farming techniques, consequently, affecting farm productivity.
Unless problems affecting farmers are identified and addressed, the growth of the entire seaweed industry will be stunted, she said.
Dr. Jain’s research focused on three major issues: income of seaweed farmers, presence of exploitation of farmers and the clusters of disadvantages.
It is also confined to seaweed farmers in Zamboanga Peninsula Region.Did income generated by the seaweed farmers serves as alternative to poverty in terms of providing them and their family access to basic needs, basic services, and access to education and social participation?
Results of her research showed:
·63 percent of the seaweed farmers are with income below the poverty threshold.
·4.5 percent of the seaweed farmers experienced hunger.·Per capita income of less than P10,000 for a family of five (annual income).
·34.2 percent have access to community water system.·24.5 percent have access to water-sealed depositories.
·56.6 percent have access to electricity.
·81.6 percent owned houses made of light materials and 9.8 percent owned houses made of concrete materials.
Her study further revealed that seaweed farmers had inadequate knowledge of the market and they were still moderately dependent on buyers; access to financing facilities was lacking; industry information was not accessible to them; and, there were some unscrupulous buyers in the industry.
The study also clearly demonstrated that indeed there existed an exploitation of farmers.
She identified the problems and weaknesses of the farmers, of seaweed farming and of the industry as a whole.The farmers’ inadequacy of income, she said, is affecting their productivity.
As a result, the farmers lack access to proper sanitation facilities, to medical and health care, to education, to communication facilities and to market/industry information.
Seaweed farming is vulnerable to typhoons and bad weather, to diseases, to pollution from nearby factories - concerns that must be given adequate response, she said.
She also lamented the lack of financing facilities specific for the industry. Product standards for dried seaweeds not followed by the industry and local policy regulating the quality of seaweeds is lacking.
To further aggravate the problem, exploitation of farmers is prevalent, she said. The lack of government assistance in providing market information, road infrastructures and post harvest facilities also contributed to the deteriorating situation of seaweed farming.
On the part of the seaweed farmers, she said, the farmers must learn to follow quality standards; build up their organizational capabilities to address concerns on financing, marketing, production costs and techniques.
Dr. Jain’s recommendations are as follows:1. Improve farmers’ income for them to better meet basic needs and gain better access to basic services, education, social participation, financing facilities and other productive resources to help them increase production and expand farm areas.
They should be provided with technical assistance to help them improve farm management, quality assurance, identification of suitable farm areas, and adoption of appropriate farming techniques.2. Local and national government must bring public services closer to the farmers in rural and coastal areas.
There is a need to improve health services, improve access to education, build road networks and enhance the provision of utilities such as potable water and electricity.
3. To help free farmers from exploitation, there is a need to increase their level of empowerment, improve social and community involvement, and foster a sense of belonging.
The government should strengthen its organizational development program for seaweed farmers to facilitate access to government assistance as well as that of NGOs and private organizations. Likewise, introduce new opportunities for additional sources of livelihood. (Mindanao Examiner/to be continued)
The seaweed industry’s contribution to the country’s foreign exchange earnings has been significant thus seaweed is hailed as one of the most successful marine products in recent years, said Virgilio L. Leyretana, chief of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco).
According to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) records, the Philippines is the leading supplier of Eucheuma seaweeds, accounting for about 80 percent of the total world supply.
“But while exporters, traders and processors are making it big in the world market, the industry remain just a mere provider of less than minimum basic needs for its farmers,” Dr. Sitti Amin M. Jain said in her book
“The Seaweeds Industry”.“The huge demand fueled by the increasing requirements of multinationals and countries that are now plucking every raw dried seaweed that the Philippines can produce may have a good impact on farmers if structural defects within the local seaweed industry are corrected,” Dr. Jain said.
Otherwise, Jain asserts, “benefits from the huge exports of seaweeds will only accrue to traders and some unscrupulous middlemen and buyers who supply giant multinationals, Third World countries will continue to be mere sources of cheap labor and raw materials sustaining if not worsening poverty, just as the farmers will continue to be in the system periphery toiling hard for rich traders and processors in exchange for mere survival.”
“Much has been reported of the success of the industry but there is no known study on the economic status of poor farmers who have toiled for generations to provide for traders, exporters and processors and swell the coffers of the national economy with foreign earnings… the problem and survival prospects of seaweeds farmers were never highlighted or paid attention to by the major players of the industry or by the government,” she lamented.
Is her book a condemnation of the whole laissez faire system? Not really, she hopes that the result of her rigorous research would provide reliable basis for industry players and development planners to address the economic condition of seaweed farmers and their families whose survival largely depend on the industry.
Her study was conducted in Zamboanga Peninsula Region which is the second largest supplier of seaweeds in the country next to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The entire Mindanao area produced in 2002 a total of 524,611 metric tons (MT) almost 60 percent of the total Philippine production of 894,859 MT.While Visayas and Luzon accounted for 40 percent with a production of 370,245 MT based on the data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics of the Department of Agriculture.
Dr. Jain said the story of the seaweed industry is an interesting one. It started in 1972 when seaweeds and the derivative carrageenan burst into the economic stage with a bang and a lot of promise.
Driving them into center stage was the versatility of the product that was a staple of the food and pharmaceutical industries as well as huge and diverse demand for it overseas swell.
She said: “Along shorelines, seaweed farms sprouted up and a new breed of farmers and traders was born. Large modern warehouses and processing facilities swallowed up the dried seaweeds that filled up to the brim the container vans from the south.“
New fortunes were made but the big slice of the industrial pie went to the processors and exporters. The farmers of the south, the suppliers of raw materials, ironically got the crumb and the leavings. The picture has not changed since then.
“The story of the industry may write a new chapter when the big players discover, hopefully not belatedly that the seaweed rainbow in the sky will continue to glow only when those at its base get to share more of the rewards.”
Dr. Jain observed that the seaweed industry faces serious problems and challenges ranging from declining production to deteriorating quality of seaweed produced by the farmers.
A study made by the University of Asia and Pacific (UAP), revealed that the industry is facing high incidence of low farm productivity, poor qualityof seaweeds due to early harvesting.
The farmers also used salt and stones to increase product weight and other malpractices. The study also emphasized the lack of industry-wide quality standards for raw seaweeds inadequate technical services and training on planting, harvesting and drying and lack of farm or village levels of post-harvest and drying facilities.
Dr. Jain countered that these problems related to the capacity and capability of the farmers to appropriately manage highly productive farms and quality produce might have stemmed from farmers’ poverty, vulnerability, powerlessness, isolation, and even physical weakness which resulted in the inability to cultivate bigger farm areas, the promotion of premature harvests, improper farming techniques, consequently, affecting farm productivity.
Unless problems affecting farmers are identified and addressed, the growth of the entire seaweed industry will be stunted, she said.
Dr. Jain’s research focused on three major issues: income of seaweed farmers, presence of exploitation of farmers and the clusters of disadvantages.
It is also confined to seaweed farmers in Zamboanga Peninsula Region.Did income generated by the seaweed farmers serves as alternative to poverty in terms of providing them and their family access to basic needs, basic services, and access to education and social participation?
Results of her research showed:
·63 percent of the seaweed farmers are with income below the poverty threshold.
·4.5 percent of the seaweed farmers experienced hunger.·Per capita income of less than P10,000 for a family of five (annual income).
·34.2 percent have access to community water system.·24.5 percent have access to water-sealed depositories.
·56.6 percent have access to electricity.
·81.6 percent owned houses made of light materials and 9.8 percent owned houses made of concrete materials.
Her study further revealed that seaweed farmers had inadequate knowledge of the market and they were still moderately dependent on buyers; access to financing facilities was lacking; industry information was not accessible to them; and, there were some unscrupulous buyers in the industry.
The study also clearly demonstrated that indeed there existed an exploitation of farmers.
She identified the problems and weaknesses of the farmers, of seaweed farming and of the industry as a whole.The farmers’ inadequacy of income, she said, is affecting their productivity.
As a result, the farmers lack access to proper sanitation facilities, to medical and health care, to education, to communication facilities and to market/industry information.
Seaweed farming is vulnerable to typhoons and bad weather, to diseases, to pollution from nearby factories - concerns that must be given adequate response, she said.
She also lamented the lack of financing facilities specific for the industry. Product standards for dried seaweeds not followed by the industry and local policy regulating the quality of seaweeds is lacking.
To further aggravate the problem, exploitation of farmers is prevalent, she said. The lack of government assistance in providing market information, road infrastructures and post harvest facilities also contributed to the deteriorating situation of seaweed farming.
On the part of the seaweed farmers, she said, the farmers must learn to follow quality standards; build up their organizational capabilities to address concerns on financing, marketing, production costs and techniques.
Dr. Jain’s recommendations are as follows:1. Improve farmers’ income for them to better meet basic needs and gain better access to basic services, education, social participation, financing facilities and other productive resources to help them increase production and expand farm areas.
They should be provided with technical assistance to help them improve farm management, quality assurance, identification of suitable farm areas, and adoption of appropriate farming techniques.2. Local and national government must bring public services closer to the farmers in rural and coastal areas.
There is a need to improve health services, improve access to education, build road networks and enhance the provision of utilities such as potable water and electricity.
3. To help free farmers from exploitation, there is a need to increase their level of empowerment, improve social and community involvement, and foster a sense of belonging.
The government should strengthen its organizational development program for seaweed farmers to facilitate access to government assistance as well as that of NGOs and private organizations. Likewise, introduce new opportunities for additional sources of livelihood. (Mindanao Examiner/to be continued)
Monday, October 23, 2006
Mayors League' Summit Opens Today In Manila
MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 23 Oct) – Some 1,000 municipal mayors from across the country trooped Manila on Monday to attend the two-day National Summit of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP).
The summit, held at the Manila Hotel, discussed national issues that have impact on local governance.
The executives also tackled issues on the merits of a national policy on sustainable upland development that aims to push the implementation of an existing model that has been tested in 38 municipalities in southern Mindanao with support from the European Union-funded Upland Development Programme (UDP), a statement from the Mindanao Economic Development Council said.
The summit is the culmination of a series of LMP regionalconferences conducted in the country earlier this year.Ambassador Jan de Kok, Head of Delegation of the European Commission) tothe Philippines, was invited at the summit. (Mindanao Examiner)
The summit, held at the Manila Hotel, discussed national issues that have impact on local governance.
The executives also tackled issues on the merits of a national policy on sustainable upland development that aims to push the implementation of an existing model that has been tested in 38 municipalities in southern Mindanao with support from the European Union-funded Upland Development Programme (UDP), a statement from the Mindanao Economic Development Council said.
The summit is the culmination of a series of LMP regionalconferences conducted in the country earlier this year.Ambassador Jan de Kok, Head of Delegation of the European Commission) tothe Philippines, was invited at the summit. (Mindanao Examiner)
Friday, October 13, 2006
President Arroyo Names Leyretana As MEDco Chairman
MEDco chairman Virgilio Leyretana.MANILA (Mark Navales / 13 Oct) - President Gloria Arroyo appointed Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana as chairman of the Mindanao EconomicDevelopment Council (MEDCo).
MEDco is mandated to coordinate and integrate the government’s peace and development efforts in Mindanao region.
Leyretana is the fourth to be appointed as chairman since MEDCo's creation in1992. Among his predecessors include former Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Paul Dominguez, former Mindanao Business Council Chair Sebastian Angliongto and Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza.
MEDco is mandated to coordinate and integrate the government’s peace and development efforts in Mindanao region.
Leyretana is the fourth to be appointed as chairman since MEDCo's creation in1992. Among his predecessors include former Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Paul Dominguez, former Mindanao Business Council Chair Sebastian Angliongto and Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza.
MEDco coordinates key agencies in the implementation and monitoring of vital government infrastructure projects,and in pushing for policy reforms needed to secure a constantly improving economic environment throughout the island region.
For the past eight months, Leyretana served as MEDco’s officer-in-charge following the appointment of Dureza to head the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
Leyretana was also Deputy Presidential Assistant for Mindanao in 2001 to 2003, and Executive Director of the Mindanao Peace and Development Fund (SPDA) in 2003.
He also served as concurrent chairman of the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) Mindanao.
Leyretana was also Deputy Presidential Assistant for Mindanao in 2001 to 2003, and Executive Director of the Mindanao Peace and Development Fund (SPDA) in 2003.
He also served as concurrent chairman of the Kapit-bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) Mindanao.
Previously, Leyretana headed the Task Force on Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) to oversee retrieval and safekeeping of funds and assets of SPDA following its deactivation in 2002.
He was a former vice mayor and mayor of Cotabato City from 1995 to 1998 and also headed the Vice Mayor’s League of the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner/MEDco)
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