Thursday, July 24, 2008 NoCot upbeat on rubber with Arroyo's encouragement By Malu Cadelina Manar Correspondent
MAKILALA, North Cotabato – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expectant that foreign investment on rubber production will pour in North Cotabato, according to Congressman Bernardo Pinol Jr., from the province's second district.
In fact, Pinol has quoted the President as saying that a Manila-based foreign investor is interested in buying some 100,000 hectares of land in North Cotabato for rubber production.
Pinol was with the President when she visited the Rubber Platinum Development, Inc., in sitio del Asuncion in Barangay Poblacion in Makilala Tuesday morning, which is owned by the Sandique family.
The President arrived at the Makilala Central Elementary School in Poblacion, at 9:45 a.m., and proceeded to the site, which is about a kilometer away from the highway.
Arroyo was all smiles when she was briefed about the situation of rubber industry in North Cotabato.
During the briefing, Jack Sandique, one of the owners of the Sandique rubber farm, told the President how rubber farming can help poor farmers cope with poverty.
As proof, Sandique introduced to her a couple -- Concordia and Pedro Faviolas -- who were able to send six children in private schools and completed their college studies.
"A rubber tree is more than an automated teller machine (ATM). When the rubber latex drops from the bark, money continues to pour in," Sandique said.
An ordinary rubber tapper earns from P500 to P600 a day, a hundred percent more than the basic daily pay of an ordinary private worker, Sandique said.
Sandique, however, stressed the need of government intervention in improving rubber production technology.
He said that most of the rubber farmers use pre-war or vintage technology in farming.
"This is the reason why the country produces only 1,200 kilos of dried rubber per hectare in a year. We improve our technology, we would be able to increase production by 40 to 50 percent," he said.
The Sandique rubber plantation, about 400 hectares in area, is able to produce 30 to 40 percent of the total output of rubber.
