Protests vs aerial spray still alive, growing louder
DAVAO CITY—Groups campaigning against aerial spraying are calling on President Benigno Aquino to issue an executive order banning crop dusters nationwide and urging the Supreme Court to uphold the legality of the ban in the city. “We’re calling on the Supreme Court to decide fast on the issue in our favor and put an end to our suffering,” said Dagohoy Magaway, the head of the group Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray. He said the ordinance has not been enforced in the city five years after it was passed because the Supreme Court has yet to rule on its constitutionality. “For the Supreme Court to turn a blind eye and deaf ears on the plight of the suffering communities by failing to issue a prompt ruling is an injustice of massive proportions,” he said in a press briefing here to mark the fifth year of the ordinance’s passing. “But we also ask President Aquino to listen to the pleas of the affected communities by issuing an executive order banning aerial spray,” Magaway said. “There’s so much talk without action. If the Supreme Court can’t be swayed by our plight, an executive order from the President will provide relief for affected communities,” he said. Mindanao business groups, such as the Mindanao Business Council and the Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), are lobbying against the ban, saying it would kill the local banana industry, Mindanao’s top export product. A Department of Health study showed the adverse effects of aerial spray on the health of people in communities living near banana plantations. Magaway said banana plantations temporarily stopped aerial spraying three years after the passing of the ordinance but resumed again in the barangays of Subasta, Dacudao and Wangan, pending the Supreme Court ruling. In 2007, PBGEA challenged in the Court of Appeals the decision of a local judge who upheld the legality of the ban. The Court of Appeals based in Cagayan de Oro City issued a temporary restraining order against the ordinance, and later declared the ordinance unconstitutional, prompting pro-ban groups to elevate the case to the Supreme Court. The environment group Interface for Development Interventions (IDIS) also complained that people directly affected by the aerial spray were excluded in a dialogue organized by the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) with different government agencies. Chinkee Pelino, of IDIS, said the interagency workshop that PCSD organized last year invited representatives from the PBGEA and Croplife, groups strongly lobbying against the ban, while excluding leaders of communities near the plantations. President Aquino earlier asked the PCSD to consolidate the different positions on aerial spray, after Malacañang was swarmed by petitions from groups calling for an outright ban on the practice because of the hazards it posed to people’s health. The groups said the President should fulfill his campaign promise to give priority attention to the aerial spray issue. Germelina Lacorte, Philippine Daily Inquirer
MAAS calls on Supreme Court to uphold legality of Davao City Ban AS Ordinance
Davao City – Anti-aerial spray activists called on the Supreme Court to finally uphold the constitutionality of the Davao City Ban Aerial Spray ordinance. “Five years after it was passed, it has yet to be enforced.”, according to Dagohoy Magaway, President of the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray (MAAS). “This is because the Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legality of the ordinance.” Speaking at a press conference marking the anniversary of the landmark ordinance, Magaway aired his disappointment with the lack of progress. “ For the Supreme Court to turn a blind eye and deaf ears on the plight of the suffering communities by failing to issue a prompt ruling is an injustice of massive proportions.”, he said. Magaway pointed out that after the ordinance was passed in 2007, banana plantations stopped the practice but lately, plantations have begun aerial spraying again. “Reports coming from the communities have revealed that in the barangays of Dacudao and Subasta, spray planes have again resumed their flights, spraying their deadly mix of poison chemicals.”, said Magaway. Opponents of the aerial spraying practice have repeatedly pointed out the dangerous effects of the spray drift to the health of the families living along or inside banana plantations. “The Department of Health had already conducted a study showing the potential risks to the environment and health of anyone that is exposed to the spray drift. ”, said IDIS Executive Director Lia Jasmin Esquillo. “These findings should have been enough to spur the Supreme Court to acting decisively on the issue in favour of the affected communities.”, she said. Other than the Supreme Court, MAAS had also been lobbying for concrete actions from the Aquino administration. Last year, President Aquino had tasked the Philippine Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to consolidate the different positions of various stakeholders. However, the workshop, which was convened by the PCSD, failed to include representatives coming from MAAS and the affected communities. “They invited representatives from the PBGEA and CROPLIFE but they never invited us. How can we expect a government position which is fair to our cause if we were not even consulted during policy meetings?”, said Magaway. MAAS and its supporters are now demanding urgent action from President Nonoy Aquino. “We call on President Aquino to listen to the pleas of the affected communities by issuing an Executive Order banning aerial spray. There is too much talk without action.”, said Magaway. “ If the Supreme Court refuses to be swayed by the plight of the affected communities, an Executive Order coming from the highest elected official of the land banning aerial spray outright will provide relief to the affected communities. (#)
Gov’t measures to stop ‘Panama disease’ branded as ‘exercise in futility’
DAVAO CITY, Nov 22, 2011—At least 1,000 hectares of banana farms in Southern Mindanao have been destroyed so far by Fusarium, a disease with no known cure that organic farming advocates said was aggravated by the practice of monocropping in the region. The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) said Fusarium, also known as Panama disease, had devastated more than 1,000 ha of banana farms as of yesterday. Madeline Dizon-Marfori, PBGEA chair, said the problem threatens the survival of at least 300,000 families, who are dependent on the banana industry, which could be Mindanao’s top export revenue earner. In her family’s company for example, Marfori said some people have lost their jobs after about 40 ha of banana farms that showed signs of the disease have been shut down. She said the infected areas have no chance of recovering soon as the fungus that causes the disease is known to thrive in soil for at least five years. It was given the name Panama, after the Central American country where the disease wiped out entire banana plantations and brought the country’s economy to its knees. “The Panama disease is the most serious challenge currently facing the banana industry,” Marfori said. Lia Esquillo, executive director of the Interface for Development Intervention, said the Fusarium disease was a “problem waiting to happen” in big plantations here because the practice of crop monoculture reduces plants’ resistance to diseases. “It was bound to occur because monoculture plantations are never sustainable.” she said. “The Fusarium disease is nature’s way of asking for a rest from all of the toxic abuse that the plantations have done to the soil.” She said because big plantations propagate bananas through tissue culture, the susceptibility of bananas to the disease increased. “The cavendish fruit is an infertile clone,” said Esquillo. “This means it doesn’t have the natural resistance to diseases which can only be developed from crossbreeding varieties.” Esquillo said because the disease was difficult to control, the Department of Agriculture’s effort to help farms and plantations was “an exercise in futility.” “As long as plantations do not have the agricultural biodiversity which comes from organic farming, crops will continue to be attacked by new diseases,” she said. “Instead of helping out big banana corporations, the government should instead allocate funds to encourage more farmers to shift to more ecological and sustainable farming methods,” said Dagohoy Magaway, a member of the group Go Organic Davao City. Germelina Lacorte and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao
Mayor insists anew: No to Bt eggplant testing in Davao
NOV. 22, 2011 DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Z. Duterte’s stand on the controversial Bascillus thurigiensis eggplant locally known as Bt talong has not changed amid clamor for another round of field tests here. Duterte said she sees no compelling reason to allow the field testing of Bt talong in any part of the city, even inside the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao campus in Mintal. UP Mindanao is among the proponents of the controversial project. Bt talong is an example of a genetically-modified organism (GMOs), which is capable of protecting itself from insects, particularly borers. “I do not see any benefit that we can get from it especially for the city,” Duterte said. She said the City Government will issue an official stance on the proposed second round of Bt talong open field test once the City Agriculturist Office is done with its study and recommendations. It can be recalled that last year, Duterte ordered UP Mindanao chancellor Dr. Gilda Rivero to stop Bt talong trials due to its failure to comply with majority of the conditions set by the Bureau of Plant Industry. Meanwhile, the City Council had junked the request of UP Mindanao professor Gerardo A. Santos who sought for the approval of the City Council for the continuance of a field testing of Bt talong in the city, saying the public must not be deprived of a free choice between crops that are organically grown and genetically modified. Santos requested the council to reconsider the field testing of the Bt talong in the city after the City Government ordered to stop similar test inside the UP campus in December last year. ( Jereco Paloma, Sunstar Davao)
Village officials, stakeholders forge commitment to protect Davao City’s watershed
DAVAO CITY, Oct. 17 – A total of 22 signatories representing barangays and key organizations, including the Davao City Water District (DCWD) and city government here, recently signed a commitment to protect the city’s watershed as part of the full implementation of the Watershed Code of Davao City. Councilor Marissa Salvador-Abella, chairperson of the City Council committee on environment, said that of the 31 barangays covered in the Watershed Code of Davao City, 22 village chiefs from these areas were present during the pledge signing, along with various environmental groups and representative of the city’s executive and legislative departments. Abella said since it has been officially mandated to all barangays, especially those covered by the code, it is now the right time to act collectively in saving the city’s water source. The pledge states that they recognize the “importance and urgency of protecting, conserving and managing Davao City’s watersheds to ensure a balance ecology and sufficient water source for the Davaoenos present and future generations.” Abella said watershed has been defined as areas of land on which rainwater drains from a river system to a common outlet such as a dam, lake or sea; or an area where rain water from a higher level of land flows down to a river or stream then to the Davao Gulf. “We should monitor, prepare and submit monthly report of activities to the Watershed Management Council on activities relative to the compliance of the law. Starting next month until July next year, we should initiate delineation and ground marking areas covered by the code,” she said. There are at least six watershed areas in the city. These are Sibulan River (Sirawan Area), Lipadas River, Talomo River, Tamugan River, Cugan River and Suawan River, she added. (PNA)
Davao City’s Upland Watersheds
What is happening to the watersheds today?
Massive deforestation due to illegal logging and years of neglect endanger the Davao mountain’s capacity to continue serving its function as large water reservoirs.
The expansion of agricultural plantations is dramatically changing the landscape of the uplands resulting in soil erosion, landslides, and flashfloods, threatening our water sources.