The Mamamayang Ayaw sa Aerial Spray (MAAS) and Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) will once again revive its campaign on the banning of aerial spray in all agricultural entities within Davao City.
Aerial spraying is a way of applying pesticides to agricultural crops using aircrafts. In the Philippines, export Cavendish banana plantations have been using this practice since the 1970s to kill the Sigatoka fungus. Aerial spraying also allows the plantations to spray more of their bananas in lesser time.
A Bitter History
The ill-effects of pesticides and aerial spraying have been well documented and researched in numerous international and local studies.
The Department of Health released in May 2009 the study on Health and Environmental Assessment of Sitio Camocaan, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur that found the majority of the villagers beside a banana plantation exposed to aerial spray and would get sick because of it. The pesticide was detected in the villagers’ blood and in air and soil samples confirming pesticide contamination beyond agricultural plantation boundaries. The study recommended the banning of aerial spray and further recommended the shift to organic agriculture practice.
Hence, in 2007, the City Government of Davao passed an ordinance banning the use of the aerial spray in all agricultural entities within the City and encouraged ground spraying instead. Yet, several banana companies questioned the legality of the ban in court and filed a lawsuit against the City of Davao seeking to strike down the ordinance as unconstitutional.
Last August 16, 2016, the Supreme Court of the Philippines declared Davao City’s Ordinance as UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The Supreme Court also denied the Motion for Reconsideration filed by MAAS and the City Government of Davao.
With this, farmers, villagers, and environmentalists are beyond devastated by the Court’s decision. “It has taken five long years for us ordinary citizens to fully comprehend the gravity of the injustice and unfairness we have borne under the Supreme Court’s decision. Ours is a justice system that acts on behalf of the interests of private corporations, rather than the welfare of its citizens; that rules on the side of technicalities favoring business, rather than on the side of humanity. There can be no doubt that the priorities of industries profiting on animal products are what prevailed in Bukidnon and Cotabato local ordinances. Our main regret here in Davao is that our own plea for a city-wide ban on aerial spraying was merely in the interest of poor people and the environment,” Dagohoy P. Magaway, Spokesperson of MAAS, said.
Years after the ordinance was declared unconstitutional, aerial spraying practices of plantations are slowly reappearing again in the City and it will not be long before we will be back at the beginning – fearing and fighting for the health and welfare of both the young and old Dabawenyos against the poison rain.
The battle continues
In 2019, IDIS conducted a study entitled “Mapping of Cavendish Banana Plantations & Affected Communities of Aerial Spraying in South Central Mindanao” to check the actual situation of banana plantations within the area, verify active aerial spraying practices, and analyze its effects on the community.
The study revealed that four (4) barangays in Davao City have continued and resumed aerial spraying in their plantations, to wit: Brgy. Dacudao, Brgy. Lacson, Brgy. Subasta, and Brgy. Lasang. What is alarming is that there are residential communities and schools adjacent to these plantations with weak agricultural buffer zones
In relation to the conducted study, a round table discussion was conducted last November 2020. It was attended by different representatives from Fertilizers Authority of the Philippines (FPA), Brgy. Sirib, Brgy. Lacson, IDIS, and Office of Councilor Ralph Abella. Affected barangays shared that numerous trees were cut down to make way for plantations and they noticed a decrease in the production of cacao and other fruit-bearing trees as an adverse effect of aerial spraying. Though FPA released Memorandum Circular No. 28, series of 2018, or Good Agricultural practices for remotely piloted aircraft system for use as spraying, this is not enough.
Last August 13, 2021, IDIS visited Brgy. Dacudao and Brgy. Lacson to check and ask the residents regarding their situation and problems regarding aerial spraying. During the interview, the residents of both barangays shared that there are no buffer zones between the plantations and their communities. Some people there are suffering from skin itchiness. They also shared that the schedule of aerial spraying is not strictly observed, residents near the plantations have no idea when will the plantations spray the pesticides for bananas.
Our call
We call the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to strictly monitor the buffer zones between the communities and plantations. We also urge the DENR – Environment Management Bureau to intensify the inspection on plantations before the issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). Lastly, we call the City Government of Davao to fully implement the Watershed Code that prohibits aerial spraying on the environmental critical areas, create a Local Multipartite Monitoring Team (MTT) for Plantations, and support the proposed city ordinance on banning the aerial spray in all agricultural entities within Davao City.
"We unite with the calls of the communities to stop aerial spraying in the city. Plantations should shift to non-aerial application methods with minimal chemical drift and impacts that would not affect the residents, farmworkers, and children's health and livability. Also, the DENR should regularly monitor the buffer zones of these plantations and other mitigation measures set in their ECCs," EnP. Lemuel Lloyd Manalo, IDIS Program Coordinator, said.
IDIS also urges DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu to revive the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MTT) for Agricultural Plantations through an administrative order.