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A
MILITANT legislator assailed Agriculture Secretary
Arthur Yap’s dilly-dallying on efforts to ban endosulfan
even as he called for the total ban on the highly toxic
pesticide, by removing exemptions on its use granted by
the government to agro-corporations.
Party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis was
reacting on Yap’s statement on Monday that “the policy
decision on whether to continue using it can wait for
maybe a week or two” and that “the priority now was to
retrieve the pesticide” from the upturned MV Princess of
the Stars.
“Banning
endosulfan and other toxic pesticides is also about
saving lives and protecting the environment,” said
Mariano.
He
raised fears on endosulfan even as he cited poisonings
caused by the pesticide, resulting in death or severe
disability in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Yap
should not counterpose the one from the other,
dilly-dally about it, and evade accountability,” he
said.
“Let me
remind Yap that it’s the DA [Department of Agirculture]
and the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority’s [FPA] job
to strictly enforce regulations on the importation,
distribution, including handling, transporting, storing
and use of pesticides. Since when did the DA-FPA
sanction the loading of endosulfan on passenger
vessels?” Mariano asked.
Endosulfan is an acutely toxic pesticide that poses
significant health problems, it can affect the nervous
system, causing hyperexcitation and convulsions, and
nervous system mediated effects on respiration and heart
functions. Death results from low levels of exposure.
Endosulfan is very toxic: it is harmful in contact with
skin; very toxic by inhalation; very toxic if swallowed;
it is dangerous to the environment; and very toxic to
aquatic organisms, and may cause long-term effects in
the aquatic environment, Mariano said.
“The FPA
had banned endosulfan, but exemptions were provided to
multinational companies Dole and Del Monte operating in
the country,” Mariano said.
He said
that, “in 1994 the Pesticides Technical Advisory
Committee made recommendations to ban endosulfan to the
FPA. And the exemptions for Dole and Del Monte should
only be for two years.”
“The
two-year exemption for endosulfan already lapsed and it
has reverted to the status of a banned pesticide. Del
Monte has been using a banned pesticide for almost 12
years. Clearly, both the FPA and Del Monte must
primarily be held accountable,” Mariano said.
He
echoed calls by farmers and like-minded scientists for
Congress for a total ban on endosulfan and other toxic
pesticides without exemptions.
“It’s
high time for Congress to remove all exemptions granted
by the government to multinationals. It is the
responsibility of these agrocorporations to look for an
alternative that is not hazardous and highly toxic,”
Mariano said. |
