ARMM investments rise amid Mamasapano clash

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Jan. 25, 2015 “Mamasapano incident” caused setbacks in the Southern process, but has never dampened the investment climate in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ARMM’s Regional Board of Investment (RBOI), in fact, recorded a P6.5 billion investment mark up from January to December 2015.

The RBOI, which operates under the ministerial control of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, just approved last week a P1.3 billion investment application for a 5,000-hectare oil palm plantation in Maguindanao province by the now transnational Gintong Ani Corporation.

The firm is co-owned by foreign and local incorporators.

Maguindanao, scene of the Mamasapano incident, even got the “lion’s share” in the total investments generated by ARMM from January 2015 up to last week.

At least 77 percent of the total investments poured in by local and foreign capitalists during the period were intended for various business projects in Maguindanao.

Tawi-Tawi garnered 20 percent of the investments while Lanao del Sur had a three percent share, all earmarked for agricultural ventures.

Local officials said it was for the cooperation of Hataman and the chief executive of Maguindanao, Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, in enticing investors that ushered in huge investments for oil palm and Cavendish banana farming projects in the province.

“The Mamasapano incident did not affect the investment climate in Maguindanao, in particular, and in the autonomous region in general,” said businesswoman Sandra Siang, chairperson of the Kutawato Muslim Business Chamber.

Lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman of RBOI, said investments generated by ARMM after the incident even soared to a “record level,” something which the autonomous region never had before.

He said the Mamasapano incident has not dampened the business climate in the autonomous region.

At least 44 operatives of the police’s elite Special Action Force (SAF), 17 guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and five innocent villagers perished in the carnage, which shook the nation to its core and challenged the Mindanao peace process.

The hostilities in the idyllic Mamasapano town in the second district of Maguindanao, which lasted for 11 hours and affected three adjoining barangays, also involved a third group, the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.