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Role of modern technology in agriculture. SM Sehgal Foundation. (2022, July 14). Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.smsfoundation.org/role-of-modern-technology-in-agriculture/

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Malaysian general visits Sulu to monitor PH's peace effort with MILF

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Weighing Difference: Poverty incidence in provinces in the poorest cluster  (2018 vs. 2021) Source: Philippine Statistics Authority 

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Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Sulu Archipelago. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved November 21, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Sulu-Archipelago

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Soldiers examining abandoned and destroyed houses

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“The Abu Sayyaf ’s bombing of a crowded market in Davao City on September 2, 2016, that killed 14 people and injured 70, is an example of a terrorist attack by bombing by the group.” based on a research performed in October 2019, another is an ambush that resulted in 21 soldiers dead on said research. It is thus proof of the deprivation of peace in Sulu.

As a result, terrorism affects employment of locals and their opportunities for livelihood.

“This may be reflected in the Philippine’s 2002 status report which indicated widespread unemployment and underemployment with rates of 10.3% and 15.9% respectively though 2008 figures indicate a decrease in unemployment rate to 7.3%.” as researched by the US Air force Counterproliferation Center in 2019.

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The government and foreign diplomats have commenced peace talks with the province, taking the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) into consideration of how to proceed with the talks.

The pandemic had also helped in contributing in lessening violence and threats with the restrictions it had imposed, helping the people in Sulu build up their livelihood and start to approach the internal issue of the province.

The positives of this are the possibility to rebuild the province from the ground up, it also gives the opportunity to focus on peace and to quell the unrest the people have had over the years. It also establishes the islands as a tourism spot with all the marvels of marine wildlife that the province is centered on.

We’ve mentioned how the pandemic had helped quell the unrest on Sulu, however it too had a negative effect. The pandemic ravaged people worldwide, leading to dips in stocks and in the market. “The short-term plan is how to revive the local economy after the worst of the pandemic. It is not only Sulu who is attentive to the recovery stage of the economy.” as mentioned in an interview by Gov. Sakur Tan.

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Geography:
The province of Sulu is part of the Sulu Archipelago which consists of Basilan, Balangingi or Samar, Sulu, Pangutaran, Tapul or Siasi, and Tawi-tawi. Sulu is situated at the southern part of the Philippines and lies approximately at the midpoint of Basilan and Tawi-tawi. It is surrounded by the Sulu Sea on the West, the Mindanao Sea on the North, and the Celebes Sea on the East. The province is composed of 157 islands and islets which split into four groups— Jolo group, Pangutaran group, Tongkil(Samales) group, and Siasi-tapul group.

Sulu is divided into two congressional districts, eighteen municipalities, and 410 barangays, with Jolo being its main island. Ten of its municipalities are located in Jolo while the remaining eight are island municipalities. According to the National Mapping and Resources Information Authority, Sulu’s total land area is about 160, 040 hectares.

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Demography
According to the 2020 Census, Sulu’s population is 1, 000, 108. The population density is 620 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the year of 2015, Sulu’s population constitutes about 21.81% of BARMM's total population, 3.42% of the total population of the Mindanao Island group, and 0.82% of the entire population of the Philippines. This is composed of 50.6% of women and 49.4% of men. The province's marital status is comprised of 50.1% married women and 49.9% married men.

˚Religion

-The dominant religious affiliation in Sulu is Islam which constitutes 98.8% of the total population, 50.6% of which are women and 49.4 are men. This is followed by the Roman Catholic at 0.6%, and the rest is composed of Tribal religions, Evangelicals, Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Protestants.

˚Language

- The dominant ethnic group in the province is Tausug which occupies Jolo, Indanan, Siasi and Patikul. Some are scattered in Zamboanga del Sur, Cotabato, and Malaysia.  Tausug is derived from tau which means person and suug which came from the old name of Jolo Island. However, the present generation of Tausugs has descended from the different ethnic groups who had migrated to the Sulu Archipelago.

The lingua franca in the Sulu province is the Tausug language which is adopted from the vocabulary of Tagimaha. This is composed of two dialects:parianum and gimbahanun. Parianum is spoken by those who live along the coasts of Jolo while Gimbahanun is spoken by those who live in the interior part of the province

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Economy:

Sulu’s main source of livelihood comes from agriculture and fishing. The Sulu Sea provides a large proportion of the nation’s commercial catch. It is also rich in marine resources such as button shells, mother-of-pearl, coral, shark fins, bêche-de-mer (sea cucumbers), turtle shells, turtle eggs, and sponges.

Due to the type of soil and climate in Sulu, it provides a greater variety of products than other parts of the country. The province produces an abundance of crops like abaca, coconut, and fruits like oranges, lanzones, and jacks. There are fruits that do not grow in the northern islands but are cultivated in the province like mangosteen berries and durian. In September 2007, six tons of mangosteen and durian were sold to different supermarkets in Manila.

In addition, Sulu is also rich in maritime resources as fishing is one of its major sources of income. Its islands are home to all kinds of fish and even sea turtles.  Aside from fishing, people in the province also engage in the industries of boat building, mat weaving coffee processing, and fruit preservation.

The province provides extensive amounts of trepang and pearls. Trepang or also known as bêche -de-mer is a sea cucumber that is often dried or smoked to use as an ingredient in Chinese and Indonesian soup.

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15 Philippine Soldiers Killed in Clashes With Abu Sayyaf Militants

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“The Philippines has been dubbed as a "haven for terrorists" and was identified as one of the countries with the most number of terrorist organizations in the recent decade.” As said in a study made in 2013.

The study entails the damage inflicted by the terrorists such as dips in economy, lives lost during attacks, property damage, negative travel advisories, properties abandoned and destroyed, and religious tension between Christians and Muslims.

Solving this issue is important because currently the Abu Sayyaf group, if not addressed, will continue to impair the Philippines' already unstable political and economic conditions.

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Abu Sayyaf Group militants with the hostages

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The Sulu province houses the Abu Sayyaf, a group of Muslim rebels, and uses the island of Jolo as a base of operations. Said Muslim group uses the islands of Sulu to their advantage to plan their acts of terrorism, leading to a lawless and violence ridden province.

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Sixty-one percent of BARMM families were poor, according to the 2018 data of PSA

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According to the Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA), in 2018 the poverty incidence in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao(BARMM) is 61 percent. It means that 61% of the people in BARMM cannot meet basic food and non-food needs because of their insufficient income. The region’s monthly food threshold for a family of five is P8,102.

Poverty Threshold is the minimum income needed for a family or individual to meet their basic food and non-food essentials. It is also known as the Poverty Line. According to the 2018 data of PSA, Sulu’s poverty threshold spiked to 74.3% for an average income of P12,042 per family. This means that in 2018 74.3% or 108,600 families in Sulu were poor.

In 2021, BARMM’s poverty rate decreased to 29.8% but Sulu stands at 62.5% making it the poorest province in the region

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According to the World Bank, majority of poor Filipinos have low educational attainment, live in large households, and are headed by self-employed individuals, smallholder producers, or those who work in the agricultural sector. Farmers and fisherfolk from rural areas remain the poorest compared to the other sectors in the Philippines. In 2018, farmers' poverty incidence was recorded at 31.6% while fishermen's at 26.2%.  This means that around 5.5 million farmers and 4.6 million fishermen are poor.

According to the data from the Department of Agriculture SAAD, there are a significant decrease in poverty incidence from 2015 to 2018 among impoverished provinces. These include Siquijor (40.2%), Sorsogon (25.6%), Bukidnon (25.3%), Northern Samar (24.2%), Apayao (22.1%), Kalinga (21.3%), Samar (19.6%), Catanduanes (19.2%), Lanao del Norte (19.1%), and Misamis Occidental (17.3%).

However, among the 30 provinces, Sulu is the only province that was recorded to have an increased rate of poverty incidence: at 75.3% in 2018 from 40.2% in 2012 and 63.8% in 2015. The primary contributing factor is the conflict in peace and order due to terrorism which hinders economic growth in all sectors.

Real growth can only be attained if the government can alleviate all the impoverished provinces without leaving others behind. It is important to address the high poverty incidence in Sulu to lessen the inequalities and improve their living situation. A high poverty rate will lead to hunger, increase in crime rates, and lack of access to quality education and healthcare.

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According to UNICEF, majority of the low-income people in BARMM are vulnerable to poverty due to the high poverty prevalence in the region and conflict within their peace and order.

One of the solutions to alleviating poverty is education but because of the conflict in the province, education is under attack. Numerous abductions, sexual harassment, and violent attacks were recorded in the province.

The followings are some recorded instances of violence in school:

·         Attempted abduction of four teachers by unknown gunmen in Tagbak village, Sulu.

·         Child abduction in front of a school in Patikul district, Sulu.

·         Abduction of a public teacher on his way home in Patikul town, Sulu.

·         Sexual harassment and abduction of a female teacher in Kanlagay Elementary School in Kalingalan Caluang, Sulu.

Even with the abundance of maritime resources and healthy soil in cultivating crops, Sulu is still experiencing severe food insecurity due to poverty. The IPC classified Sulu province in their IPC-chronic level 4 which means that it is part of those provinces with severe chronic food security.

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UNICEF has provided suggestions that address the inequality, poverty, and conflict in BARMM. This includes the use of new technologies such as mobile technology and data entry and management. BARMM is characterized by high levels of poverty and pervasive conflict which requires an inclusive and risk-informed social registry to ensure that no one will be left behind. The proposed mobile registry will help the government and NGOs in data analytics and in examining large information from millions of people in the region. This will also serve as an easy guide for status identification and to easily provide assistance for the impoverished population.

One of the major sources of income in Sulu is agriculture and the advancement of technology has positive and negative effects on the agricultural sector. Technology helps in producing fertilizers, pesticides, and seed technology. Biotechnology and genetic engineering have invented pest resistance, increased crops, and improved crop quality. Mechanization also reduces manual labor by making tilling and harvesting more efficient. Processing machinery has reduced wastage. Irrigation and transportation have also improved. Some innovations focus on robotics, precision agriculture, artificial intelligence, block chain technology and more.

However, because of the use of technology and machinery, the improvement in technology can also be detrimental to the environment. The pollution from machines and factories that make artificial fertilizers contribute to the augment of global warming. Nevertheless, technological advancement in agriculture is beneficial in boosting the economy and ensuring food security.