Philippines

Residents, farmers, and Indigenous groups demand an end to land grabbing by an oil palm plantation company owned by the Consunji Group and call on the government rehabilitate their damaged forests and agricultural lands.

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura said that the expansion would lead to corporate exploitation of oil palm leaseholders and growers and to land grabbing from peasants and Indigenous peoples.

Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corp. is pushing for a P500-million agro-industrial facility in Bataan. It is meant to help meet the increasing demand for poultry in the Philippines.

DMCI President Isidro Consunji said the family's agriculture business was developing a 12,000-hectare African palm oil plantation in Negros Occidental, as well as a partnership with Japan's Marubeni and UP Los Baños to plant 1.5 million trees across 15,000 hectares for carbon credits.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr this week signed the law liberalising the lease of private lands by foreign investors., which aims to encourage investors to build industrial estates and factories as well as tourism and agriculture projects in the archipelago.

A Corporate Farming Act has been filed in the Philippines Senate by Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri which would allow corporations to acquire up to 200 hectares of contiguous lands.

Philippine's President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a special plea to foreign investors in his fourth State of the Nation Address: Invest in the country’s agriculture sector. Meanwhile, the World Bank criticises Philippine policy that aims to prevent the concentration of rural land ownership.

A civil society group closely monitoring developments at the 6,000-hectare palm oil plantation welcomed the call for a temporary suspension of its activities.

The country’s sovereign wealth fund signed an MOU with the CP Group laying the groundwork for the establishment of of a $1 billion private equity fund that will target agriculture, food production, digital innovation and green energy.

Agricultural workers and a legal advocacy group have raised concerns over a “fast-tracked” bill seeking to extend land lease terms for foreign investors to nearly a century, warning of its potential negative impact on farmers, plantation workers and indigenous cultural communities.

Paghimutad investigates the social and environmental costs of the controversial 6,000-hectare palm oil plantation owned by construction firm Consunji in Candoni town of Negros Occidental.

President of the Philippines says CP Group committed an additional USD1.5 billion in investments to the country, starting with a 10,000-hectare modernized mega farm, during meeting at the presidential palace.