Philippine Dole’s 7 metric ton Sweetio Banana arrive USA as first imported highland Cavendish from Asia

Photo from official account of Philippine Embassy in the United States. @philippinesusa.

The Philippines has officially become the first Asian country to export bananas to the United States, with the first shipment of the highland Cavendish variety from Bukidnon arriving at the Port of Long Beach last week.

 

"We're excited to see our very own bananas in grocery stores in California soon," Consul General Hellen Barber-de la Vega told the Inquirer after she inspected the products at the ripening warehouse on Sunday (Manila time). "We waited eight years for this to happen."

 

The bananas are scheduled to be delivered to large retailers—including the giant supermarket chain Albertson's and specialty stores Trader Joe's and Whole Foods—as early as this Friday (Saturday in Manila), De la Vega said. "We're just waiting for confirmation from the distributor."

 

Seven metric tons of the bananas arrived on Sept. 9 at Long Beach in Los Angeles County as part of the 3,000 metric tons the US plans to import from the Philippines this year, the Philippine Embassy said in a statement.

 

"With this shipment, we are hopeful that Philippine bananas would be able to find and satisfy a niche in the competitive US banana market," Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said.

 

The Philippines first sought access to the US market eight years ago, according to Agriculture Attaché Dr. Josyline Javelosa.

 

"Philippine bananas are among the best in the world and there is an opportunity to bring in the unique and special banana varieties like lakatan and latundan which Filipinos in the United States have long been craving and which Americans can learn to love," said Javelosa.

 

The highland bananas, marketed in the United States under the Sweetio brand, were exported by Dole Philippines to Dole Food Company Inc. and were shipped from the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, on Aug. 20.

 

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After a Dutch national, Canadian citizen who joined SONA rally to be deported

Kim Chatillon-Meunier, 24, was arrested at the Manila airport as she was preparing to board a flight to Hong Kong. (Facebook)

 

There are around hundreds of foreigners joining the protest against the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July which 1 of them that makes a cop cry was deported.

 

A Canadian woman is another foreigner who joined a rally in protest of the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, was prevented by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) from flying out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Friday night, September 13.

 

Kim Chatillon-Meunier, a 24-year-old Canadian student, was lining up at the immigration area for her Cebu Pacific flight 5J142 bound for Hong Kong when she was intercepted by BI officers at around 7 pm, Friday.

 

Maan Pedro, spokesperson for the BI, told Rappler that Meunier had been on the bureau's watchlist for visa violations.

 

"She participated in a political activity which is in violation of the condition of her stay as a temporary visitor in the country," Pedro said.

 

According to the human rights group Karapatan, "Kim was a delegate to the International Conference on Human Rights in the Phillippines held last July. She also joined the international solidarity and humanitarian mission in Quezon province prior to the conference. She observed the program of the rally during the State of the Nation address last July."

 

Karapatan added that Meunier visited the country primarily to meet the requirements of her internship for an international studies program of the University of Montreal. She also helped conduct research on the reproductive health conditions of women in depressed communities in Tondo, Manila, the group said.

 

The bureau's data revealed that Meunier had been admitted to the Philippines in May on a 21-day tourist visa but was granted an extension.

 

Deportation

 

The Canadian will go through the deportation process between Monday to Tuesday next week, September 16 to 17, Pedro said.

 

This means Meunier will not be allowed to enter the Philippines again after she is allowed to leave.

 

Pending her deportation, immigration officers brought Meunier to the BI detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

 

Karapatan denounced Meunier's detention, demanding respect for her rights and her immediate release.

 

"Karapatan condemns this blatant harassment and violation of rights. Like what the BI and the Aquino administration did to Dutch activist Thomas van Beersum, they are violating Chatillon's fundamental right to free expression and her right to study and support human rights issues in the Philippines," Karapatan Secretary General Tinay Palabay said.

 

Screengrab of Thomas van Beersum's Facebook profile picture showing mixed comments from his network. The photo was originally taken by Rem Zamora of ABS-CBN

Thomas van Beersum, the Dutch who joined the SONA rally that authorities violently dispersed, was earlier deported and placed in the bureau's blacklist as persona non grata.

 

READ Deported Dutch activist: 'I don't regret it'

 

He was photographed confronting PO1 Joselito Sevilla. The cop cried and photos and videos of the incident became viral, sparking public outrage and prompting the government to conduct investigations into the participation of foreigners in the rally.

 

READ: Open letter to Thomas van Beersum who made the cop cry

 

The human rights leader demanded that the BI watchlists against foreigners who attended the SONA rally be withdrawn, saying that "these are tools for harassment and suppression of fundamental rights." 

 

Rappler.com

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