Lack of income forces upland farmers to grow marijuana
BURNING WEED Some of the marijuana plants uprooted in the mountain border of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and Davao del Sur provinces are burned in a ceremony in Tampakan, South Cotabato. —BONG SARMIENTO
KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato, Philippines — Lack of income is pushing farmers in upland villages in South Cotabato province to plant marijuana, according to Mayor Leonardo Escobillo of Tampakan town.
He said at least 38,500 mature marijuana plants, with an estimated street value of P7.7 million, were destroyed in the mountains of Tampakan, an area that hosts Southeast Asia’s largest known undeveloped copper and gold reserve.
The marijuana plants included 27,000 fully grown ones worth P5.4 million that were seized on Oct. 19 at the border of Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat; and 11,500 mature plants worth P2.3 million that were seized in Sitio Alyong, Barangay Danlag in Tampakan and Sitio Lamalis, Barangay Datalblao in Columbio.
Escobillo said cultivation of marijuana had become a serious problem in his town for a long time. “We have to take action and we are committed to end this problem,” he said.
He said some villagers resorted to marijuana farming due to lack of livelihood opportunity.
According to him, there are still pockets of marijuana farms—either cultivated or naturally grown—in the mountain villages at the boundary of the four provinces.
Close coordination
He attributed the marijuana seizure, the biggest so far in the area, to the close coordination among the local government, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, police, military and other government agencies.
“We have cut a major source of marijuana that augurs well in the government’s war on illegal drugs,” South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. told a press briefing here.
The marijuana plantations have been located in the mines development site of Sagittarius Mines Inc., operator of the Tampakan project. This was not the first time that marijuana plantations were busted in the mining tenement of the firm, which is known to cooperate with authorities to flush out illegal activities within its project area. —Bong Sarmiento
