Group questions entry of Taiwanese firm in Apeco

MANILA, Philippines - Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya on Monday questioned the entry of a Taiwanese-owned agribusiness giant in the controversial Aurora Pacific Economic and Freeport Zone.

Pamalakaya said the Aquino administration is likely to approve the request of Nan Tsan Aurora Ltd. to invest in three different export-oriented projects intended to be set up in the second semester of the year.

"The officials of Apeco are now engaged in wholesale auction of Casiguran despite the fact that everything about the ecozone project is being questioned in the Supreme Court, in Philippine Congress, in the parliament of the streets and in the court of public opinion," Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said.

France said there is a pending petition in the Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of laws that created the Aurora ecozone authority, and also a pending bill at the House of Representatives calling Congress to repeal these laws.

In October 2011, some 300 petitioners also asked the High Court  to scrap the Apeco project.

Apeco President and CEO Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. said the Nan Tsan Aurora Ltd. Inc. is engaged in agriculture, mariculture, aquaculture, and fish and agri-processing.

He said the agri-corporation group, the largest in Asia submitted its proposal through a Letter of Intent by lawyer Johannes Bernabe, the company’s legal representative.

Pamalakaya said  Nan Tsan plans to engage initially in fish processing as its priority undertaking, for which it will lease a seaside area of 1,000 square meters where it will build and install the required facilities and equipment. This undertaking will kick off starting the second quarter of 2013.

The group said the Taiwanese firm ,known as one of the largest eel farming and processing firms in Asia, intends to apply its extensive expertise and resources in the breeding, cultivation and harvest of eels in the inland waters of Aurora, particularly the rivers and streams of the province.

Pamalakaya added that the Taiwanese firm eyes 10 hectares of land within the ecozone for the planting and cultivation of papaya.

Other plans include building modern facilities for the handling, storage and packaging of the harvested fruit. It will also involve gathering the seeds which will be exported to Taiwan.

The flesh of the fruit may be sold as food or food product, or even as by-product for use as ingredient or raw material for pharmaceutical firms or manufacturers of cosmetic products.