RBOI-ARMM approves P1.3-B oil palm project

COTABATO CITY -- Investments in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are off to a good start in 2016 following the approval last Friday by the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) of the registration of the P1.3 billion oil-palm plantation project of Gintong Agri-Corporation. This is despite of the uncertainty of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) passing into law in Congress and the upcoming first year anniversary of the tragedy that shocked the nation on January 25, 2015 claiming the lives of more than 60 individuals in the town of Mamasapano in Maguindanao following a police operation by the Special Action Force to get Marwan Zulkifli bin Hir, a wanted bomber, leading to a fierce encounter with Moro rebel groups. For its initial operation, Gintong Agri Corporation will develop a5,000 hectareoil palm plantation in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao then expand up to20,000 hectaresover the next decade in several municipalities in the ARMM particularly in Talayan and Guindulungan. The company is investing into sustainable oil palm production and in due course build and operate palm oil mill facilities in Maguindanao to produce crude palm oil and palm kernel oil. The company is majority Singaporean-owned with a joint venture with local community cooperatives whose members own the lands while the company funds their development and manage the nucleus estate, provide technical advice and the market to the farmers. The project is set to create 1,000 jobs upon its full operations. Concern for BLBAR less autonomous than ARMM Asked about whether or not the BBL was a primary factor in their decision to invest in the ARMM, its president Alex Fergusson said that with or without BBL they were already decided in investing in the ARMM. Spillover of fighting in Mamasapano was an an initial concern for the company earlier in 2015 but since no widespread fighting broke out they decided to continue with the investment. On the other hand, stability of investment policy was very important for them so that they are anxious that the BBL that will come out of Congress will not diminish the ease of doing business in the ARMM. As reported in the mindanews.com, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission, composed of 15 commissioners from the government and MILF, submitted its draft BBL to Congress in ceremonial rites in Malacanang on September 10, 2014. This draft became House Bill 4994 and Senate Bill 2408. The House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL and the Senate Committee on Local Government, however, filed their substitute bills, HB 5811 and SB 2994, both titled Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BLBAR). But both substitute bills have been criticized for envisioning a Bangsamoro less autonomous than the ARMM it seeks to replace the Senate version further reducing the Bangsamoro into a mere local government unit. Earlier reports coming from the ARMM-based Promotion of Investment Sustainability Organization (PISO) led by Edgar Bullecer expressed concern that the House of Representatives substitute bill now renamed BLBAR removed the fiscal incentives for firms investing in the ARMM. PISO presented its position paper to the Senate Committee on Local Government of Senator Ferdinand Marcos to push for a BBL that is compliant to the peace agreement signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and to underline that any autonomy framework less than the ARMM as had happened with the House of Representatives BLBAR version will lead to instability in investment policies undermining investor confidence in the region. Mr. Bullecer also said that their company, Chiquita-Unifrutti, the largest foreign investor in the ARMM having invested P3.7 billion last year in cavendish banana plantations in Maguindanao, was determined to continue investing in the region with or without the BBL, but they fear that a watered-down BBL as represented by the BLBAR will make it harder to invest in the region because investors will have to get their permits and approvals of projects from the national government, similar to the experience with mere local government units, which are not autonomous regions. As an autonomous region, the ARMM regional government grants permits, licenses, franchises and approvals for investments in the region under the ARMM Organic Act without interference from the national government. For his part, ARMM Business Council chairman Haron Bandila warned about passing the BLBAR version currently pending in Congress causing chaos and calling instead for the passage of the agreed upon original version of the BBL. Lawyer Ishak V. Mastura, RBOI Chairman, said that 2015 recorded a whopping Php 6.5 billion total investment despite the Mamasapano tragedy. This optimism will continue this 2016 since more investors are expected to come and stay in the region, confident that they can do good business despite some issues in the peace process, which was even aggravated by the Mamasapano incident, Mastura added. Year 2016 is election time and this may pose some challenges to the agency sinceinvestors are usually in their wait and see mode during this period. However, Atty. Mastura is positive that 2016 is going to be another good year to generate more ARMM investments since projects related to an oil depot, bulk water treatment and supply and on industrial waste management and treatment are now in the works.