Negros Occidental town moves to thwart legal battle over palm oil project

Candoni Mayor Rey Ruiz, who calls the project a ‘blessing’ for his impoverished town, says local officials are finding ways for a ‘win-win’ solution and avoid a legal battle

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Local officials of Candoni, Negros Occidental moved to avert a looming legal battle between a group of farmers and the Consunji group’s Hacienda Asia Plantations Incorporated (HAPI), over a P2-billion palm oil plantation project over fears it would result in the displacement of many families.

This came as lawyers of farming communities and the Gatuslao Agro-Forestry, Banana and Sugarcane Farmers’ Association (GABASFA) threatened to go to the Supreme Court to seek a Writ of Kalikasan against the project because it supposedly poses a threat to both the environment and food security.

Such a writ is a legal remedy aimed at protecting citizens’ right to a balanced and healthful ecology by preventing environmental damage through a court-issued order.

Candoni Mayor Rey Ruiz, who called the project a “blessing” for his impoverished town, said the local government was finding ways to draw a “win-win” solution and avoid a legal battle. He sat down in a dialogue with about 100 farmers from the villages of Agboy, Gatuslao, and Payawan, on Friday, July 26.

He told them he understood their concerns, and assured them that the local government would protect their interests.

“They just want their farms with planted with rice, corn, pineapple, and sugarcane not to be damaged by the project. They also do not want to be displaced,” Ruiz said.

HAPI holds a 25-year Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which gives it management control of 6,652 hectares of forest land in Candoni town.

HAPI is a joint venture between farmer Alfred Joseph Araneta and Sirawai Plywood and Lumber Corporation, a corporation wholly owned by the Consunji family.  The firm is headed by Luz Consuelo Consunji.

Ruiz said he would bring the farmers’ concerns to HAPI, which is currently undertaking groundworks in the three barangays.

Ruiz said the P2-billion palm oil plantation project, the first in the province, would be a boon for the economic status of Candoni, presently a fourth-class municipality and one of the poorest localities in Negros Occidental.

In a statement, Araneta, HAPI director, said they have already started preparing 870,000 palm seedlings in their Candoni nursery in Barangay Gatuslao.

The palm seedlings were sourced from Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea, and Malaysia. After 10 to 12 months, they will be ready for planting, he said.

By 2026, Araneta said, a processing plant can be established in the town for palm oil production.

This early, however, HAPI has already employed some 300 farm workers from the host communities, he said. Each receives a daily wage of at least P440.

By 2025, said Araneta, HAPI will need 1,500 workers, and another 1,500 to come up with a total workforce.

Araneta said HAPI is the holder of a 2009 IFMA for the use of 6,652 hectares of forest land in Candoni for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years. 

He said the firm also has an approved Comprehensive Development and Management Plan (CDMP) for the cultivation of oil palm.  

According to Araneta, the area was used for logging operations by an American firm, Insular Lumber, in the 1960s but it has since left the property idle and abandoned without any reforestation.  

The area has been unproductive for more than 60 years, according to Araneta.

The farmers’ lawyers, Wax Anawan and Rey Gorgonio, said they see no problem if the project would not displace families and affect their farms.

“Economically speaking, we understand the position of the local government of Candoni regarding this project. Our concern, however, is just for the protection of our clients against possible displacement and loss of their livelihoods,” Gorgonio told Rappler.

Gorgonio and Apawan pointed out that despite the IFMA, the 6,652 hectares are part of a forest land, which is owned by the state.

Some of the farmers, belonging to a indigenous peoples’ group, have been seeking a certificate of ancestral domain title (CADT) from the government which, if granted, would give them communal rights over the forest land. Many of them have claimed that they have been living and tilling farms in the area for decades.

“What my clients want is just simple respect for their communities and farmlots, which they inherited from their ancestors,” Gorgonio said.

The lawyers said the farmers were bent on going to court to question the issuance of the IFMA in favor of HAPI unless the concerns they raised were addressed.

Ruiz, meanwhile, said the DENR may need to step in unless the issues are resolved.

Araneta, who also serves as HAPI’s community affairs head, said the claims that farmers were displaced were misinformation.

“No crops or cultivated farms were damaged by the ongoing groundworks of HAPI in Candoni,” he said.

He said one family whose farm would be included in the road development has agreed to get compensated because the construction would affect 140 standing trees.

“There is no truth to the allegation that we are destroying farm lots. This is an outrageous claim since we are not doing it, and the project will not affect either the environment or food security,” Araneta said. – Rappler.com