Governor sees investors in site of slays

BULUAN, Maguindanao—Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu on Tuesday said the massacre site in Sitio Masalay in Barangay (village) Salman, Ampatuan town, would be preserved by investors who plan to put up an agricultural complex in the area.

The governor said a prayer house was also being planned on the site, seeking to allay fears over a project of Malaysian firm Univex and Filipino company Al-Mujahidun Agro Resources Development Inc. (Armadi) to develop idle lands in Barangay Salman.

Concerns were raised that the project would desecrate the site of the massacre, where 58 people, mostly journalists, were killed in November 2009.

Mangudadatu, who lost his wife and several relatives in what is now known as the country’s worst political killings, said the project’s proponents would invest more than $10 million to develop lands circling Sitio Masalay into banana farms and to put up an agricultural complex.

Univex partnered with Ed Bullecer and Abdulwahid Sumaoang of Armadi in turning initially about 1,500 hectares of idle lands into productive farms, he said.

On Friday last week, Mangudadatu said he and Ampatuan Mayor Rasul Sangki signed a memorandum of agreement with Univex, represented by Gonzalo Ordenana and Michael Coote, and Armadi for the development of the lands.

“This gave flesh to our dream of a peaceful and productive life for our constituents,” Mangudadatu told reporters here.

He said that in the coming days, investors would start development work in the area at an initial cost of $2,800 per hectare.

Ordenana, Univex representative to the Philippines, said the investors initially had fears about investing in Maguindanao because of the province’s “negative image.” Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao