AFTER a court banned the field trials for the genetically modified eggplants in the country, environmental advocates are now calling the Department of Agriculture (DA) to halt the production and commercialization of the genetically modified crop “Golden Rice”. The golden rice is a new type of rice that contains beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A. […]
Statement of Support for the Passage of the No Mining Policy in Davao City
The Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) supports the City Council’s formulation of a No Mining Policy in Davao City to protect and sustainably manage the city’s watersheds and to ensure the food security of its citizens by protecting its remaining agricultural areas. That Davao is a city of watersheds cannot be denied. Previous terrain analysis studies […]
IDIS and ECOWASTE expose illegal sale of mercury-laced cosmetics in Davao City
Davao City/Quezon City. – Skin whitening cosmetics containing dangerous levels of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, are being sold in Davao City in brazen violation of the law. The Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) and the EcoWaste Coalition, which are based in Davao and Quezon Cities, respectively, made the discovery after obtaining 7 skin lightening products with mercury […]
Enlarging green spaces
IT TOOK a question from Sister Josephine Bacaltos of the Good Shepherd Sisters to voice out what many of the attendees have been wondering all morning: With all of the ordinances which sought to preserve the environment, how had flood-prone Davao City reached this point? “I grew up here in 1946,” revealed Sister Jo, one […]
Land use plan gets final council nod
AS EXPECTED, the Davao City Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Clup) got the final approval by the City Council Monday afternoon. The council passed the measure on third and final reading, with the title “An ordinance approving and adopting the zoning ordinance of Davao City for 2013-2022, incorporating as integral part thereof, Volume 1, which is […]
Shrine Hills now a protected zone
ENVIRONMENTALISTS participating in the revisions of Davao City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (Clup) welcomed the City Council’s decision to protect Shrine Hills from further urbanization by designating it as a protected zone. Idis policy advocacy specialist Chinkie Pelino lauded the move as a “strong exercise of political will” as the City Council in a special […]
Higher banana profits linked to ground spraying
DAVAO CITY — Small banana farmers will earn more if they shift from aerial to manual or ground spraying, according to a study commissioned by environmental group Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS). The unpublished study, “Financial Assessment of Shifting from Aerial to Ground Spray in Banana Plantations in Davao Region,” reported a 19% increase […]
Organic farm advocates hail CA ruling on GMOs
DAVAO CITY—Euphoric over the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling against the field testing of genetically modified Bt eggplants, organic farming advocates are calling for a ban on a genetically modified breed of rice known as Golden Rice. Golden Rice contains beta carotene as a source of Vitamin A and is being developed by the International […]
Ban on GM rice pushed
IN THE wake of the Court of Appeal’s (CA) landmark decision to outlaw the field trials of the genetically modified Bt eggplant, members of the Go Organic Davao City (GoDC), a Davao-based network of organic farming practitioners and advocates, are now training their sights on their next target: the genetically modified golden rice. “While we […]
Davao reefs in ‘dismal state’
DAVAO CITY — Silt coming from the deforested upland slopes along Davao’s watershed areas is putting the coastal biodiversity in peril, according to a watershed profile study commissioned by the Interface Development Interventions (Idis). In a statement emailed to Sun.Star Davao, Idis said siltation, previous blast fishing, and wave action have been identified as the […]