EDITORIAL - The cost of lawlessness

A province notorious for a massacre and poll fraud should be grateful for the few brave souls willing to plunk in substantial amounts to set up job-generating enterprises. About two years ago the Delinanas Development Corp., a subsidiary of food giant Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, opened a 550-hectare banana plantation in Maguindanao.

Delinanas aimed to harvest about two million boxes of Cavendish bananas for export annually, with the plantation providing jobs to over a thousand people. Elated officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao urged Delinanas to look at other plantation sites in the ARMM.

Instead of expansion, however, the company may shut down its Maguindanao operations for good. Work at the plantation in Datu Abdullah Sangki town has been suspended since gunmen ambushed a convoy of company officials three weeks ago, wounding the chief security officer. A week later, masked men toting assault rifles cut down hundreds of banana trees in the plantation.

Last week ARMM officials were reportedly notified of the company’s plans to pull out of the province. The violence is being attributed to a clan feud laced with politics – a problem common in much of the conflict areas of Mindanao. Last July, another Delinanas banana plantation in Tulunan town, North Cotabato was also attacked by gunmen who torched two backhoes. Probers said the attack was part of an extortion attempt by a bandit group.

Some of the country’s poorest provinces are in Mindanao – the result of centuries of neglect, weak governance and deadly clan or tribal feuds. Jobs and livelihood opportunities along with improved public education and health care can ease poverty.

With inadequate infrastructure, the few major investments in the conflict areas are mainly in agriculture. If the government wants to attract more investors, it must show that it can provide protection to the few who have dared to set up shop. The experience of Delinanas can only be bad news for the ARMM and Mindanao.