“Attackers” destroy 1.3K IP bananas in Kidapawan

CITY OF KIDAPAWAN – More than 1,300 banana plants were cut by still unidentified men in a banana plantation owned and planted by indigenous peoples (PA) here.

The plantation is located in the village of Balabag, a mountain community next to Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, according to village president Eduardo Empan.

He said the plants were discovered cut Tuesday morning.

Empan, also head of the Manobo Apao Descendants Ancestral Domain of Mt. Apo (MADADMA), an association of PA Manobo who planted bananas from the royalties they received from Energy Development Corp., donated 100,000 PHP to help them. The incident.

“The amount will be given to anyone who can provide information allowing the identification and prosecution of those who destroyed our bananas,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Empan estimated the destroyed banana trees at PHP 500,000.

“We planned to use the income from this plantation to buy school supplies for our children in Barangay Balabag,” he said, adding that initial information gathered from PI members showed that five men were responsible for the attack.

“They could be people who don’t want us to be successful in our banana plantation as the ones behind the attack. It is now up to the police to investigate further, ”Empan said.

He said he believed those who cut down the plants only followed the brain’s orders to attack.

“We want to know the brain,” he said, adding that they were coordinating with the city government regarding the incident. (ANP)