Palace assures banana growers of assistance

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday assured banana growers that they would be given assistance as they incurred losses due to the stricter rules imposed by China and amid reports that the Chinese were not buying fruit exports from the Philippines even if these were allowed entry.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said President Aquino had talked with respective government agencies dealing with the banana issue and since the exports to China accounted for 30 percent of the country’s market, short and long term plans would have to be prepared.

“Now, the long-term position is we have to broaden our markets. The short-term is we are providing assistance to the banana growers. We are going to identify who the banana growers are because as I said, the exports in China only constitute 30 percent; 70 percent we are doing well. So we need to broaden the market of our banana exports,” Lacierda said.

“So we are going to provide, and we’re still looking at ways to provide assistance, cash for work, financial assistance and assistance to the packaging houses of the bananas. The President has also asked the economic team, the respective government officials, to come up with a definitive package assistance plan by next week, I think,” Lacierda said.

He said the President tasked the concerned departments and agencies to come up with a package of assistance because there were legitimate phytosanitary issues that were being raised.

“That’s why there’s assistance to the packaging, houses of the banana growers. They are supposed to submit by Monday (an) assistance package and we will let you know if that has been approved by the President,” he said.

“Also the President was very emphatic about (how) we’re going to provide assistance, let’s focus on those who really need (it). For instance, like I said, only 30 percent of our banana exports go to China and so we have to focus on the growers. Not all the banana exports are suffering as what the export association claims it is,” Lacierda said.

The Chinese are not buying bananas from the Philippines, although China has allowed their entry, banana exporters said Thursday.

Stephen Antig, Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) executive director, said nobody in China was buying Philippine bananas that the Chinese government had allowed to be imported.

Bilateral talks

Meanwhile, former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri is calling for high-level bilateral talks with China to ease tension over Scarborough Shoal and normalize trade and tourism between the two countries.

Zubiri said government should employ diplomatic means in resolving its issues with China instead of an offensive posturing.

“Government should avoid engaging Beijing in a bottomless tit for tat. Effective diplomacy at the highest levels has become absolutely imperative to quickly stabilize our trade and tourism relations with China,” Zubiri said, adding that, “Some would say that government’s handling of the territorial dispute has been sophomoric – that it has unnecessarily strained relations, and created potentially troublesome side issues where there used to be none.”

Zubiri said that holding anti-China rallies or a similar approach is putting the country’s fruit export tourism industries at risk because they are being set back by needless restrictions by Chinese authorities.

Nevertheless, Zubiri further stressed that the feud has adversely affected the trade and tourism relations between China and the Philippines.

Zubiri said that Mindanaoans are the most affected by China’s ban on Philippine bananas since large-scale, export-oriented banana and other tropical fruit plantations are concentrated in Mindanao, which is less susceptible to stormy weather. – With Edith Regalado