The Indigenous People (IP) in Talaingod, Davao del Norte are now propagating a new variety of abaca with the help of the military as part of a long-term interventions in preventing the resurgence of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the area.
These are the IP abaca farmers that are affected by the suspension of abaca-buying operations in the Davao Region. The stoppage of abaca-buying activities affects more than 2,638 IP households from 70 sitios (sub-village) in Talaingod town.
The problem originated from the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority’s (PhilFIDA) “red-tagging” of the quality of supposedly growing bogus abaca daratex fibers in the community.
Colonel Marion Angcao, commander of the 1003rd Infantry Brigade, said on Wednesday that they are helping the said IP community in propagating the true abaca variety called “tanggongon” through the Abaca Crisis Intervention Framework.
“For long term, nag propagate tayo ng bagong variety ng abaca yung tanggongon. Yung long term it will take three to four years pa bago maka harvest. So ano ang interventions? Yun yung mga alternative, which is mag tanim ng ibang crops,” Angcao said during the AFP PNP Press Corps media forum at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday.
Angcao said the province of Davao del Norte through the Provincial Agriculturist Office has provided abaca seedlings while some were bought by them.
This is the long-term solution to prevent the resurgence of the NPA in the area.
“Kailangan natin silang bigyan ng medium-term interventions. Basically, pagbigay ng mga crops na madaling mabuhay at maani tulad ng corn. Isa yung na program,” he said.
For the short term, Angcao said they provided food packs and basic assistance, while for the medium term is providing seedling ng crops na madaling maahi.
“Nagiging challenge when it comes to pag introduce mo sa kanila sa mga IP brothers and sisters natin dahil hindi nila nakasanayan so somehow meron resistant lalo na kung ang mga crops ay wheat. Hindi sila nasanay ng ganon pero unti unti na train natin sila and we make sure na there is no other way. Sinabihan namin sila kung hindi sila mag adopt ma-mo-mroblema sila at lalo silang mahihirapan,” Angcao said.
He also said these are the same IP community that the NPAs will approach and used if not helped by the government.
“These are issues na madaling ma exploit ng kalaban para makabalik. Kung hindi natin ito maagapan and this is what we always emphasize sa mga local government units natin, if we will not be able to address this, hindi malayo na makabalik yung impluwensya ng Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs). We have really to address these issues and the most important thing napi-feel ng mga tao na hindi natin sila pinababayaan,” he said.
