OFWs concerned over typhoon’s effect on Manila’s banana exports

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom have expressed mixed reactions on the damage caused by Typhoon Pablo to banana plantations in Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte in Mindanao island, southern Philippines.
“Philippine banana exports to Saudi Arabia are not adversely affected by Typhoon Pablo, because the main producing areas, such as Datu Pablas town, were not damaged,” said Usman Navarro, Riyadh-based regional manager of the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
This means, he said, that Filipino consumers would not run out of bananas from the Philippines.
Navarro claimed that individual banana producers located in mountainous areas had been affected, but they are not major producers. However, others said that some banana producing areas had been damaged by the typhoon.
“One of the banana producing areas is New Bataan in Compostela Valley province, which has been greatly destroyed by the typhoon,” said Rodel Yap, a manager at a local bank and former president of the Filipino community group Alphi Phi Omega.
Cenon “Nonie” Sagadal, a local bank marketing representative, added that Davao del Norte had also been greatly damaged. “One of the big plantations that produces bananas commercially is located in Davao del Norte,” he said.
The Philippines is the fourth biggest banana exporter to Saudi Arabia, but its production could decrease. Reports say that banana growers in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley are asking for government assistance after their farms were damaged by Typhoon Pablo.
Romy Garcia, chairman of the Mindanao Banana Growers Association, said in a statement that they would need some P 3.5 billion (SR 320 million) in financial assistance to rehabilitate their plantations.
“We appeal to the government to extend financial support to the farmers, as we could not support on our own the needed rehabilitation expenses,” Garcia said.
An estimated 13,230 hectares of banana plantations were devastated in Davao del Norte alone, according to initial reports of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Center.
According to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), another 10,000 hectares of banana plantations were also damaged in Compostela Valley province.
Rehabilitation costs, the PBGEA said, would amount to P 500,000 (SR 46,000) per hectare. In all, some P 11.615 billion (SR 1 billion) may be needed to rehabilitate 23,230 hectares of storm-damaged farmlands.
The banana industry had already been reeling from the huge losses due to quarantine sanctions imposed by China. The recent blow caused by Typhoon Pablo completes the picture of a devastated banana industry in the Philippines, reports said.