Chapter III
The Local Economy

2.3.2.5        Agricultural Marketing

         Palay Marketing

It was cited that about 70% of the local requirement for palay is being imported from General Santos City, Iloilo City and Zamboanga del Sur. However, during peak season of harvest for palay production, palay is exported to Basilan, Jolo, Tawi-Tawi, and Zamboanga del Norte (Siocon).

        Vegetable Marketing

Discussions on vegetable marketing are directly drawn from the marketing and Information Needs Assessment Report, Zamboanga City of the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (1994).

Vegetables are mostly produced in barangay La Paz in Zamboanga City. Vegetables raised include Baguio beans, cabbage, carrots, Chinese petchay, and native pechay.

Vegetables are sold by the farmers on wholesale basis at the farm level to traders and middlemen and are available the whole year round. The peak of production and trading are during the months of November to January. Vegetables produced in Zamboanga City are traded in Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

During lean months (February to October), the city imports vegetables from other areas like Cagayan de Oro City, Negros Oriental, Metro Manila and Zamboanga del Sur. Vegetables are also imported from Pagadian (tomato) and General Santos City (e.g., cabbage, Baguio beans).

There are several participants in the marketing of vegetables in Zamboanga City. The farmers produce the vegetables in their own farms. These are normally purchased from them on wholesale basis by the barangay assembler. A barangay assembler buys vegetables from one barangay and sells it to traders. There are also interregional distributors who source vegetables from two or more regions and sell to retailers as well as to buyers outside the province.

There are suppliers or buyers outside the province who buy vegetables from Zamboanga city and sell vegetables in their province. Retailers sell vegetables directly to the consumers, the end users.

          Banana Marketing

There are at least four varieties of banan grown in Zamboanga city. These are the latundan, lakatan, and bungulan, and gardaba.

Bananas are grown in Zamboanga City the whole year round. The peak-trading season is from August to October. Lean months are from January to April. Farmers produce the banana in their own farms and sell their produce to large distributors. There are also farmers who sell their produce to large distributors and buyers outside of the province. The retailers buy banana from large distributors and sell in the market (BAS, 1994).

Geographically, though, bananas are being traded in Zamboanga City and then supplied within the city, Zamboanga del Norte and Metro Manila.

         Fish Marketing

Most of the fish produced at the commercial level in Zamboanga city is unloaded at the Sangali Fish landing Center. Tuloy and galunggong are the major species. Fish species handled for the export market include squid, octopus, lobster and other large fish species

The Boulevard Fish Landing Center is a small fish-landing center that can accommodate only two vessels at a time. The said landing center handles many small fish species in small volumes. The fish species commonly landed are tuloy and galunggong.

Small fisherman sells to the assemblers, exporters, and retailers or directly to the consumers. The commercial fisherman sells to exporters, buyers outside of the province to buy the fish. The retailers sell fish to consumers and usually have stalls in the market.

Geographically, fish are traded in Zamboanga City. These are distributed to Zamboanga City, Metro Manila, Zamboanga del Norte, Cagayan de Oro City, and Lanao del Norte.

2.3.2.6        Agrarian Reform

              Scope of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

A total of 187, 839 hectares of agricultural lands are considered under the CARP. Of these, 110, 257 hectares are private agricultural lands (PAL) and 87, 582 hectares are classified as non-PAL1. Private agricultural lands tenanted rice and corn lands covered by presidential Decree No. 27, Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS), Voluntary Land transfer (VLT0, lands foreclosed by Government Financial Institutions (GFIs), and lands under Compulsory Acquisition (CA).2

              CARP Accomplishment

As of first semester of 1997, a total of 176, 782 hectares of agricultural lands have already been acquired and distributed under the CARP in Zamboanga City. These constitute about 94% of the targeted CARP scope in the City.

Disaggregation of date on accomplishment by type of land revealed that the land tenure improvement (LTI) aspect of the CARP has been completed (i.e., 100% accomplished) among non-PAL (both KKK lands and settlements). Moreover, there are 100% CARP accomplishments among tenanted rice and corn lands under the PD 27 Agrarian Reform Program.

High percentages of accomplishment are also noted for land under the VLT (97%), GFIs (96%), and VOS (90%). The unfinished business of agrarian reform mainly involves lands for compulsory acquisition of greater than 24 to 50 hectares in which only about one-third of the target has been acquired and distributed. These are the medium-sized agricultural lands, which are quite difficult to acquire.

            Figure III-12.   Market Channels for Vegetables, Zamboanga City

            Figure III-13.   Geographic Flow of Banana, Zamboanga City

            Figure III-14.   Market Channels for Fish, Zamboanga City

            Figure III-15.   Geographic Flow of fish, Zamboanga City

Table III-17.   Land Distribution Status By Land Type/Mode Of Coverage, 1972 – 1st Semester 1997

            Land for Acquisition and Distribution

To date, there are 11, 057 hectares of land for acquisition and distribution under the CARP in Zamboanga city. These mostly include some 7, 529 hectares of land under Compulsory Acquisition and 2, 204 hectares of land under the Voluntary land Transfer.

            Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs)

To date, there are four ARCs in Zamboanga City. These are located in the barangays of Buenavista, Sta. Rita, Lumayang, and Patalon. These are the areas where there is 100% accomplishment on LTI, i.e., and the delivery of support services to CARP beneficiaries are focused on these ARCs. It could be noted that the delivery of support (and even social) services in these areas ARCs are anchored on the cooperatives existing in the respective areas.

            Land Use Conversion

There are eight applications for land use conversion with the DAR from January 1991-August 1997. About 146. 58 hectares of land are being applied for conversion. Of these areas, about 73% are being applied for conversion to industrial areas. The rest of the areas are for residential purposes. While the area being applied for conversion may appear very minimal. There may also be cases of illegal and/or undocumented land use conversion.

2.3.3   Trade and Industry

2.3.3.1 Business Establishments

Based on the recent Barangay land Use Survey, actual count of business establishments total 8, 121. The breakdown of which is shown in Table III-18.

Table III-18.   Business Establishments, Zamboanga City
 

Table III-18.   (Cont’d) Business Establishments, Zamboanga City