Cotabato City (CNN Philippines) – The municipality of Datu Abdullah Sangki temporarily shut down a 500-hectare banana plantation, which has 800 workers, for failure to comply with some requirements mandated by the Local Government Code.
Mayor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu issued five-page order July 2 and had it implemented on Wednesday (July 8).
The mayor directed the Delinanas Development Corp., a subsidiary of Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, to shut its plantation until it could comply with certain requirements for operation mandated under the Local Government Code.
According to lawyer Mojaheren Balayman, the municipal executive officer, the plantation failed to comply with the requirements despite several notices sent by the mayor.
The municipality said the company failed to secure working permits for its employees from the Office of the Mayor and had not been paying rent to the land owners of the plantation.
In a dialogue held at the headquarters of the 601st Infantry Brigade in Tacurong City on July 6, both parties discussed the issue but failed to come up with a resolution.
According to Balayman, after the closure was implemented, Danilo Roman, expansion program manager of Del Monte Philippines, Inc., immediately went to the Office of the Mayor for a meeting.
In the meeting, Roman promised that the plantation would comply with the requirements.
