Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 9 No. 3 - Cover
Fruits of Farming
Expert “farmers” Senen Bacani and Luis Lorenzo tell us how to increase farm harvests
By Maricar T. Manuzon

Senen Bacani and Luis Lorenzo Jr. have one thing in common – involvement in the fresh fruits business in resource-rich Mindanao. Their leadership has enabled the private sector to take the lead in further developing the area.

Before serving as Agriculture Secretary in 1990-1992 during the Aquino Administration, Senen Bacani spent years working and living in the countryside of Southern Philippines where he ran the rigorous operations of DOLE Philippines. After his government stint, he helped form a management company which set up T’Boli Agro-Industrial Development, Inc. — a company which is into contract-growing of pineapples and papaya involving the small farmers of South Cotabato.

In 1997, he led a multinational company to invest in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, a predominantly Muslim area in Mindanao. La Frutera, Inc., a 1,000-hectare banana plantation, is the biggest investment so far in the Muslim areas of Mindanao. T’Boli is also in Mindanao but is located in a “Christian area.” Ninety-five percent of its 1,700 workers are Muslims, many of whom are rebel returnees from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Bacani and his business partners envisioned La Frutera as a model of how Christians and Muslims can work together.

“We are very close to making La Frutera one of the best farms in the country and in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao at that. In La Frutera, we make sure that we produce at competitive quality and cost because the exclusive buyer of our products is Chiquita Brands, a global leader in banana production,” Bacani explains. Indeed, La Frutera’s relatively modest-sized plantation has produced bottomline profits from the start of operations.

"It is more satisfying when you see something living , growing, and producing some value"

Bacani notes that since the time that La Frutera established its plantation in Datu Paglas, there have been follow-up investments from others, albeit slower than what he originally expected. The once secluded, war-torn town now boasts of a mini-mall and a development bank. The crime rate is reportedly down. Bacani wants to inspire others to follow their lead and not be deterred by the negative perception about the peace and order situation in the Muslim areas. “Peace and development go together. We cannot keep on waiting for peace to come first. The reason why there is no peace is that there is no development. Fact is, if there is no livelihood, people can do anything as there is nothing to lose on their end. Now that we have given the Datu Paglas townsfolk gainful employment, they do not even want to lose even a few days’ wages.”

To drive the point, Bacani related a story. During the height of the conflict when former President Estrada ordered a full-blast assault against the MILF, some of their workers were called to re-join the forces of the MILF Muslim rebels, but they passed up on the challenge. The workers told the recruiters that they were tired of war. “After they got used to peaceful living, earning some money, having some conveniences here and there, being able to send their kids to school, they may have realized that that was all they needed. I am sure there is some ideology in their going to war, but most part of it is answered by having some livelihood because our needs are all the same — food, shelter, and clothing. Our workers’ families have also started buying appliances. But, if they stop working, they know it will be a big change again, and it will be a reversal of the simple, adequate and peaceful life they now live.”