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Moro Success Poster Boy Dies at 47
By Samira Gutoc
ccun.org, August 12, 2008
Marawi City –
“The best governor the ARMM never had.” The Muslim-Christian
“bridge builder.” “The Man Who Couldn’t Wait for Peace.” “The Datu
in Sandals and Denims.”
Days before the 6th Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
elections, accolades were poured on businessman Ibrahim “Toto”
Paglas III, 47, who passed away in the Davao Doctors Hospital
2:30 pm . He was in comatose at the Intensive Care Unit suffering
from meningitis .
Paglas III, ran twice for regional governor in the 2001 as an
independent and 2005 ARMM elections under the Liberal Party banner,
and was beaten by current ARMM Regional Governor Zaldy Uy Ampatuan.
He never won.
But he won audiences and was featured in national and foreign
dailies.
Banana Boy Goes Big
“Bawal ang tamad sa Paglas (Maguindanao),” was Toto’s famous line
pasted in the walls of his factories - one that brought the banana
magnate coverage with the story of his project, the La Frutera
banana plantation in Datu Paglas town, Maguindanao, a success story
of arms to farms, where former Muslim rebels worked with Christian
and highlanders as factory workers.
In the late 80s , the young mayor took firm steps to halt the spiral
of violence. Using his status as MILF Chairman Hashim Salamat’s
nephew, he persuaded MILF commanders to work and gain income. He
went after criminals with a fierceness that stunned townsfolk.
Then, he started the harder job of persuading investors to come in.
His first attempts were failures. Paglas persevered. Strangers came
to the rescue. He managed to convince investors from Italy, Saudi
Arabia and the United States (represented by Chiquita) to invest in
La Frutera a banana plantation.
To everyone’s surprise, the venture, established in 1996, took off.
Within four years, Paglas sprang another surprise, bringing in an
Israeli engineering firm to provide irrigation technology. La
Frutera then broke the world record for the heaviest bunch of
bananas. In 2001, it exported 5.3 million boxes of bananas to China,
South Korea, the Middle East and Japan.
With his entrepreneurial spirit as Chief Executive Officer and
President of the Paglas Group of Companies , he was able to attract
millions of investments for his far-flung hometown introducing
agricultural enterprise, banking, cooperativism, and information
technology here .
Standing at 6’2 usually in white shirt and denims belying his royal
lineage and riches, Toto became a favorite speaker of Makati
businessmen as he spoke of a Southern region brimming with hope.
Mixing Tagalog and Visayan dialects, he endeared himself to his
audiences by sharing his aspiration for peace in the region.
He represented the youthful dynamism of the region, which was
suffering from sporadic conflict and poverty, advocating business
development, employment and education in ARMM.
For his leadership, he was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men
(TOYM) in 1999 and was invited to speak in foreign business
conferences, including one in New York, where Bill Gates was one of
the guests he impressed.
A grandnephew of the first Muslim Brigadier General and former
Senator Salipada Pendatun and nephew of founding MILF Chairman
Hashim Salamat, Paglas also helped in the peace process, a constant
fixture in civic programs in the South. ABS-CBN even awarded him a
Bagong Bayani for his civic work helping the ABS-CBN
Foundation in crafting outreach programs for the evacuees.
Toto studied Engineering at the University of Mindanao and
Agriculture at Gregorio Araneta University Foundation, Manila.
The Peacemaker
At these uncertain times brought on by tensions on a supposed
signing of a territorial deal between the MILF and government,
Muslims and non-Muslims alike poured accolades on Paglas.
Former Peace Secretary Teresita Deles said, “he walked tall, exuding
dignity and warmth. He was a good man who sought to carve a
different path for his people. ”
Former LP president and Senator Franklin Drilon, who endorsed Toto
as ARMM standard bearer in the 2005 elections, said he was a
“promoter of inter-culture dialogue.”
“The Liberal Party will surely miss TOTO PAGLAS AS THE BEST LP
ARMM CHAIRMAN WE NEVER HAD. He was a man of genuine love and
commitment, dedicated to the betterment of the MORO people. He had
a vision, and mission which he not only preached but worked
for....God bless his soul, “ Chit Asis, former Director General of
the Liberal Party of the Philippines
“Toto Paglas is one among the best that the Moro People has shown to
this country, Philippines and the world,” said film maker Manuel
Concepcion.
“He is an inimitable Moro leader, and more like him are needed.
His is the voice, the face, and the track record that the world
needs to see more. His story is the kind of story that brings
Moro public relations miles forward!,” said Astrid Tuminez formerly
of the United States Institute of Peace
ARMM Trade Secretary IShak Mastura said, “Datu Toto we will never
forget those whose lives you have touched in one way or another for
the unity of the Bangsamoro and for bridging understandings thru the
gulfs and divides of the Moros with ALL the gallant people and
communities in Mindanao regardless of race, religion and
ethnicities . Truly you embody the ideals of "bridging
leadership.”
Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema said he was a “big loss to the
moros, enterprising individual from the rajah buayan clan.”
Toto’s remains were brought to Digal , Buluan, his ancestral home
where Muslim rites were performed burying him in white. Muslims are
buried within twenty four hours after death.
He leaves three children and his two wives, Shiela Powers and Jamila
Disomimba .
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