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San Miguel Corp. subsidiary Monterey Foods Corp. will be granted tax
perks and other incentives by the Board of Investments for investing
in a hog-raising project in the conglomerate’s controversial
property in Sumilao, Bukidnon.
Trader Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez, BOI
managing head, said Monterey will spend P1.81 billion to build the
hog-raising and meat production facility in Sumilao.
“The facility has a controlled client
technology,” Hernandez told reporters, adding that Monterey plans
to start commercial operations by next year and will employ 161
people.
Earlier, San Miguel formally handed over to the
Sumilao farmers a 50-hectare estate that is part of the 144-hectare
property, the Quisumbing estate, they have been fighting for to
reclaim for almost 20 years.
The battle began in 1990 when the Agrarian
Reform department issued a notice of coverage over the property, or
the Quisumbing estate.
Ten years ago, the farmers went on a month-long
hunger strike that resulted in a “win-win formula” proposed by
then-President Fidel Ramos. The farmers, however, lost the land when
the Supreme Court, in 1997, decided against them on the basis of a
technicality.
-- Chino S. Leyco
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