News update Sprouting of squatters: Who is to blame

DINALUPIHAN, Bataan- The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO), the local police and the municipal mayor are blaming each other for the sprouting illegal settlers occupying the government-owned 700-hectares Bataan National Park in barangay Roosevelt here.

PENRO chief Atty. Ricardo Lazaro accused the police and the local government unit headed by Mayor Joel Payumo, of neglecting their duties and allegedly tolerating the 400 families who illegally set up their houses, most of which are even concrete, in the Roosevelt area. According to Lazaro, this is the reason for the alarming increase of squatters in the area.

"May police detachment doon, alam din ng munisipyo yong nangyayari, pero di sila kumilos noon pa sanang bago election," Lazaro lamented.

But police chief Supt. Enrico Vargas said that their main duty is to oversee peace and order and not on environment and squatting problems. "Di naman namin alam kung alin dito ang mga protected areas at illegal settlers na nananakop sa mga public lands; pero anytime naman basta humingi sila ng police assistance ay nagbibigay naman kami. Pero hindi naman sila (PENRO) nagsasabi kung ano ang pwedeng itulong ng mga pulis sa mga ganitong problema na alam naman natin ay tungkol sa environment at squatting sa mga public lands; Di naman pwedeng pagbubunutin na lang namin ang mga bahay na walang court order; di naman kumilos noon ang DENR, pero kami ngayon ay sisisihin nila," Col. Vargas pointed out.

Local media men also learned that these squatters have been in the area before, but for political reasons they were not "touched" by the local leadership for fear of losing votes from these squatters who number to around a thousand voters. "Kung titingnan mo, kulang ng political will dito," said a newsman.

Mayor Payumo was not available for comment as he was at a meeting that time.

Informed of the problem, Sr. Supt. Arnold D. Gunnacao, Bataan police director, immediately hatched a plan and initiated the immediate arrest of Victor Rotairo and his wife Cristina Fernandez, tagged by the police as leaders behind the illegal occupation of the government land. Two other leaders of the syndicate, including a former army man, however, were able to escape as the heavily-armed policemen under Supt. Benjamin Silo and Atty. Ricardo Lazaro of DENR arrived in the area to arrest them.

The couple was accused of violation of R.A. 7586 otherwise known as NIPAS (National Integrated Protected Area System) law for allegedly grabbing or occupying the Roosevelt Park, which is a protected landscape in Bataan National Park sitting in four barangays- Tipo of Hermosa town; Roosevelt, San Pablo and Bangal of Dinalupihan town- the only area where the virgin forests with century-old trees are located in the province. The arrested couple, however, was able to post bail right after their arrests.

"Puwede naman palang hulihin agad ang mga illegal settlers, eh bat ngayon lang nagkaroon ng ganitong pag-aresto," said a land owner whose lot was also being occupied by illegal squatters, lauding the efforts of Col. Gunnacao.

Illegal squatting has become a "juicy income" for professional squatters whose specialized job is to grab lands whether owned by public or private individuals. A number of lives had been lost due to the issues of land grabbing, illegal squatting in Bataan, prompted local officials to lobby for a stronger law against illegal squatting.

Illegal cities: life among the third world's squatters.(Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters a New Urban World)(Book Review): An article from: Reason

Lleve un 'okupa' a su casa. (ocupantes ilegales de edificios deshabitadas)(TT: Bring home a 'squatter') (TA: illegal dwellers of uninhabited buildings)(Column): An article from: Epoca

Kopi talk Singapore and Philippine farm project

Thanks Yen Nee for the article since the government already take the lead, maybe the private sector should set up a committee to look into feasibility study to develop a raw material cost control in Philippine.

In Philippine I meet a few business associate who have 20 hectare of land looking for jointly venture to develop especially on area like ORGANIC farming. Similarly, in Baguio I got to know this company that sell wide variety of lettuces and different vegetables, Laura's Farm is set apart from the others by choosing to go the organic way. With restaurants as the initial customers, business was going great as a home-based salad business that has developed from only producing two varieties to now, eleven varieties. In November of 2004, while in Baguio, Tinette  Jilin  with the prodding of her mother Tessie, started to entertain the idea of setting up her own farm. With the vision of the farms she would pass by through the scenery of Malaga and Seville in Spain, she made a few calls and eventually found a contact to a consultant for vegetable farming. Using the idle land of her grandmother in San Pablo, Laguna, she launched into this business venture of hers. The organic farm was to be called "Laura's Farm" after her family's matriarch. This home-based business also echoed Tinette's passionate view on promoting a new lifestyle of healthy living highlighted by eating organic greens. With salads moving along, gourmet sandwiches followed and just recently, a full catering service of healthy home-prepared food is now in operation. Full steam ahead, Tinette continues to reach more people by sharing her advocacy of healthy living most especially by eating organic lettuce. The private sector should also look into tapping Philippine by developing a jointly  raw material cost control creativity and ingenuity in the processes and systems, products and services. You can take a page out of one of the Philippines‘ leading business conglomerates, San Miguel corporation carries the San Miguel beer brand names one of the most formidable players in the Philippine food and beverage industry that also a priority is the thriving outsourcing model have the most widespread and successful application of third party arrangements like the broiler which has been running for more than 40 years and covers all of the 1,300 contract farms nationwide.

SMFI’s poultry business is allowing consumers more opportunity to exercise their choice in choosing a product and the quantity they prefer. Their market research has assisted in helping the company decide on the Magnolia Chicken Station – a concept inspired by the traditional wet market ‘tingi’ system where chicken parts are laid out and consumers select the exact quantity and number of parts required. Magnolia gave it new life by branding the products, conveying quality, hygiene and freshness and presenting a wider variety of chicken cuts than normally available. At the end of the day, the raw material cost will determine your costing like Singapore; are subjected to a constant bombardment of messages that focus on the global market dynamics and the supply, demand, consumption and pricing mix of raw materials so much so that it has become impossible to avoid the issue.I am just saying that by jointly developed with local farmer at the end of the day, stability of raw material supply is absolutely critical when a CEO of a firm mentioned that "We can maximize our margins depending on raw materials price, provide one's can control the raw material price !



Temasek unit studying feasibility of jointly developing food zone
By Lee Yen Nee
SINGAPORE could gain access to a major new source of meat, fruit and vegetables if a massive new farming project in north-eastern China takes off.

At 1,450 sq km, the China Jilin (Singapore) Modern Agricultural Food Zone will be more than twice the size of Singapore and will produce everything from pork, beef and dairy products to rice, strawberries and ginseng.

The ambitious multibillion-dollar project is a collaboration between the Jilin city municipal government and various Singapore agencies.

Chief among them is Singbridge International Singapore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, which yesterday signed an agreement with the Jilin Municipal Government to study the commercial feasibility of jointly developing the food zone.

The study is expected to take nine months to complete and if the project is given the green light, Singbridge and the Jilin municipal government will jointly invest in the food zone, which will take 15 years to build in three phases.

Singapore has yet to reveal the potential size of its investment in the project, but Jilin officials said yesterday that the Chinese expect to sink in a total of 110 billion yuan (S$22.7 billion).
Food and Beverage Cost Control