MOVING FROM ONE EXTREME TO ANOTHER – Two months on, the situation is vastly more complicated. In some ways, the country’s banana industry is in deep trouble. For all those findings and the surprising decision of the Chinese government banning the importation of Philippine produced Cavendish bananas, the news could hardly be better.This is a perplexing times in a country famous for exporting bananas. Banana growers and exporters from the Davao region are the most directly affected by the ban. It is here in the region where the banana industry took its root in the mid-60s, and Tagum Development Corporation (TADECO) help pioneered in the banana growing and export business. Hardly a day goes by without the news of yet another uncovering of a disease infecting bananas being produced and imported from the Philippines by the Chinese authorities.
Concerned Chinese government agencies concluded that the new discovered virus in Philippine bananas posed as health risk to its millions of consumers. But the most troubling development is the unexpected ban imposed by China resulting to the indefinite impounding of hundreds of tons of Philippine bananas which are beginning to rot right now in several Chinese ports. The ban would mean terrible losses in terms of dollar revenues on the part of Filipino banana growers and exporters.
However, many of our people are more sensitive to crucial issues linking the ban to the current tension between the Philippines and China over Panatag Island or the so-called Scarborough Shoal situated in the West Philippine Sea. But it is rather unfortunate that the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) quickly reacted claiming that the allegation is far-fetched considering the ban was already implemented a month before the stand-off between the two countries. Right now, the most intriguing question raised by the affected sector is why the ban took effect at the height of the conflict.
Everywhere we turn, harsh critics and doubters are looking for evidence that the current “tension” between the Philippines and China plays a larger role in the ban. What to do? In the meantime the government says there are ways we all can do to cushion the impact and dampen the tough situation caused by the ban. Some of the advice may sound terribly unfamiliar, but perhaps it has fresh reasons to follow through – advancing the idea for the growers and exporters to look for new markets.
The idea may be more of a problem rather than a solution especially in the early stages according to the Davao-based Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) during a hurried press briefing. The present leadership and concerned government agencies have a commitment to help the banana industry, but when it comes to a plan what to do first, it’s less clear. What they always have to bear in mind is the fact that the banana export market is not very good at this point in time because of the ban imposed by China, one of the country’s biggest importers of Philippine bananas.
It should be no surprise that the PBGEA prefers to think that with the government’s present stand, it seems they’re moving from one extreme to another. It’s clear that the government idea offers very little comfort to the disgruntled banana industry. Here’s why. Aside from the Middle East, China and other Asian nations, the next export destination would be the US, Canada and the rest of North America. The daunting problem in eyeing these countries as new market prospects relates to the very nature of staggering costs of freight.
Moreover, part of the problem aside from the excessive cost of freight, which could probably double or maybe even triple due to the distance is the competitors from South and Latin American countries. The growers and exporters of these countries are pumping huge capital outlay in agriculture and focused primarily in planting Cavendish bananas. Banana exports notably those coming from Brazil, Costa Rica, Columbia and Peru is deluging the North American markets. With the present condition, it is therefore disheartening to note that Philippine banana growers and exporters had a very slim chance or maybe no chance at all to compete in these prospective areas.
Such sentiments resonate loudly – especially considering that the country is currently in a critical financial situation. The PBGEA, at least, seems aware of the danger lurking ahead. In fact, it was the perception among noted economists and financial analysts that with the ban imposed by China, the country’s banana industry right now becomes unstable. The current crisis has focused the minds of those directly involved in the industry on the impending socio-economic problems confronting the banana export sector.
A certain amount of anxiety is always present in the banana export industry because the ban would highlight a looming economic debacle and massive unemployment. The debates now range from narrow to broad: what impact will the indefinite ban have on one of the country’s top dollar-earner? Eyeing a new market as the government would rather suggest only put the country’s banana growers and exporters in a bad competitive situation.
In the short-run, the banana industry is likely to see a slight worsening in its current operations because of China’s “retaliatory” ban. And for the country’s banana export business to fully emerge and recover after the diplomatic confusion, government on the other hand has to hastily address their concerns.
