Groups call for ban on aerial spraying on banana plantations
MANILA, Philippines – Various civil society groups on Tuesday called on Congress to pass the long delayed bill banning aerial pesticide spraying in banana plantations nationwide. The groups, including Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS), said that the controversial agricultural method brings more harm than good to local communities and the environment. “Beyond its supposed economic benefits, aerial spraying is a daily menace to our communities and to the environment,” MAAS President Dagohoy Magaway said.
CSOs call on the national Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) agency to stop aerial spraying in the Philippines
DAVAO CITY- Ninety-five (95) local and international civil society organizations (CSOs) and institutions have petitioned the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority (FPA) to ban aerial spraying in banana plantations in the Philippines. In a position paper drafted by the lead CSO, the Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) , the group highlighted the dangers of using aerial spraying as a method to apply fungicide because it contaminates nearby communities and water resources indiscriminately. “In the communities adjacent or inside banana plantations, incidents of animals and plants dying due to hazardous chemical exposure have been reported. This is because the chemicals used in aerial spraying, when released, are airborne and spread randomly, reaching areas which do not even have banana crops! These aerial drifts are also easily affected by wind speed, terrain plane size, wing span, nozzle orientation, nozzle type, droplet size and swath and spray volume.”
Civil Society Position against Aerial Spraying
2015 CSO Position Paper Against Aerial Spraying
Aerial spraying endangers Davao watersheds
DAVAO CITY – Eight years after an ordinance here banned aerial spraying of fungicides on banana plantations, advocates say the fight must continue to prevent unmonitored practices to contaminate the watersheds. Environmental group Mamamayang Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) disclosed that the plantation and farm owners in the barangays of Dacudao and Subasta in Calinan District continued to use aerial spraying. “Both barangays are also located in important but critically endangered watersheds. Subasta, in particular, is located in the Talomo-Lipadas Watershed where the city sources its drinking water,” said Dagohoy Magaway, president of MAAS. MAAS said that the environment group Interface Development Interventions, Inc (IDIS) “found [in 2013] traces of pesticides in air and water samples taken from four separate areas in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watersheds.” Magaway said that these watersheds are “the current and future sources of drinking water for the city.” In a privilege speech Tuesday at the City Council here, Councilor Leonardo Avila III said that they would press hard on plantations still using aerial spraying. Avila said that they have held several hearings “between the workers and residents against the multinational companies in September 2006 to February 2007.” “We concluded that the people like farmers and farm workers and the environment, were not as resilient as the large-scale agricultural plantations,” Avila said. “This decision also favored the next generations of Davaoenos living within the periphery of the agricultural plantations and the bodies of water where we source part of our drinking, domestic and agricultural requirements,” he said. Ordinance 0309-07 entitled “An Ordinance Banning Aerial Spraying Practice in all Agricultural Entities in Davao City” was passed by Davao City in March 2007 but was questioned in court by giant banana plantation group Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Associaion (PBGEA). The ordinance prohibits aerial spraying of fungicides in 1,800 hectares out of the total 5,000 hectares of banana plantations in Davao City. Six months later, in September 2007, PBGEA filed a case questioning the constitutionality of the ordinance before the Regional Trial Court 17. The RTC Branch 17 affirmed the constitutionality of the ordinance but PBGEA elevated the case to the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro City. The appellate court declared the ordinance unconstitutional on January 2009. A month after, in February 2009, MAAS and other groups elevated the case to the Supreme Court where it is now pending. MAAS said it also demands for immediate implementation of Davao’s Watershed Code “which contains provisions that prohibit aerial spraying in the designated environmentally critical areas (ECA) of the watersheds.” “We will work with what we have. Right now, it is the Watershed Code, which is currently being implemented, that allows us to protect Talomo-Lipadas, Panigan-Tamugan and other watersheds from contamination by toxic chemicals released through aerial spraying. Even as the Ban AS ordinance awaits final resolution, the campaign to eradicate aerial spraying continues.” Magaway said. Avila also said that during 2004, “there was already a statement from the Department of Health urging the Department of Agriculture to stop aerial spraying until sufficient proof of its safety was clearly established.” “While our fight has not ended, as the case is still pending at the Supreme Court, there are some things to be thankful for: with agricultural plantations expanding to other areas outside of the city, other LGUs that have existing large-scale plantations still using aerial spray have been inspired by ordinance and are taking their own measures to pursue similar ban,” Avila said. Avila said that there are bills in Congress seeking to ban aerial spray “both moving towards the total ban of aerial spraying in the country”. He said they are calling on the national government agencies and the Congress to “fast-track the legislative process on the proposed aerial spray ban.” (Mark Anthony Duran, davaotoday.com)
Lift TRO on Aerial Spray; Avila
Backed by environmentalists, Councilor Leonardo Avila III yesterday urged to uphold an eight-year-old anti-aerial spray law banning the aerial spraying in banana plantations in Davao City. This developed as members of Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray (MAAS) are again up in arms asking the lifting of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which was issued in favor of the banana growers. The city ordinance on the total aerial spray ban was approved eight years ago but until now it is has yet to be implemented. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) had upheld the legality of the ordinance but the banana group was able to secure a TRO from the Court of Appeals that remain in effect until today. “Let us uphold the ban on aerial spray in Davao City and call on the national government agencies to hasten inter-agency actions to come up with appropriate policy and for Congress to fast-track the legislative process on the proposed aerial spray ban.” In his privilege speech at the City Council regular session yesterday, Avila said. “The ordinance cannot be implemented because of the TRO and it is high time that the Supreme Court once and for all resolve the issue. The total aerial spray ban ordinance, Avila said, will prove further the city as child and environment friendly. “We want the Supreme Court to lift the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) which was issued by the Court of Appeals in 2009,” Wangan barangay captain Crispin Alcomendras said. Alcomendras said they want the TRO lifted so people can live happily in the community and in harmony with the environment. (Editha Z. Caduaya, Mindanao Daily Mirror)
Aerial spraying in two barangays
THE aerial spraying of pesticides is still being carried out in banana plantations in at least two barangays in Davao City, an environment group has reported. Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) president Dagohoy Magaway said the barangays are Dacudao and Subasta in Calinan District, and both are located in the city’s watershed areas. He said Subasta is in the Talomo-Lipadas Watershed where the city sources its drinking water. Another environment group, Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis), earlier found traces of pesticides in air and water samples taken from four areas in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan watersheds. These watersheds are the current and future sources of drinking water for the city. “The aerial spray knows no boundaries, it goes where the wind currents takes it. When it settles down on our rivers and springs, it threatens our water supply and the health of everyone who drinks from it,” Magaway said. Magaway also pointed out that communities surrounding the two barangays have reported cases of the pesticide drift reaching them. Maas and its support groups are calling for the immediate implementation of Davao’s Watershed Code, which has provisions banning aerial spraying in the designated environmentally critical areas (ECA) of the watersheds. “We will work with what we have. Right now, it is the Watershed Code, which is currently being implemented, that allows us to protect Talomo-Lipadas, Panigan-Tamugan and other watersheds from contamination by toxic chemicals released through aerial spraying. Even as the Ban AS ordinance awaits final resolution, the campaign to eradicate aerial spraying continues,” Magaway said. Maas is commemorating the eighth year of the passage of Davao’s landmark Ban Aerial Spraying Ordinance. “This is the eighth year that we are commemorating the ordinance despite the fact that the Supreme Court has yet to resolve with finality the legality of its implementation in Davao City,” he said. “Even so, the fact that this ordinance has been passed should send a strong signal to the remaining plantation companies still practicing aerial spraying that the local government is serious in upholding its people’s right to health and a clean environment,” he said. (Arianne Casas, Sunstar Davao)