A multisectoral group consisting of various non-governmental organizations on Thursday revived the call to ban the aerial spraying of pesticides on local banana plantations.
The Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS), Interface Development Interventions Inc., Philippine Misereor Partnerships Inc. and the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal (Saligan) again called on lawmakers to ban aerial spraying.
Aerial spraying of pesticides is a common practice in agricultural plantations. In banana-producing provinces in Mindanao, aerial spraying protects banana trees from being wiped out by various pests and diseases.
Proposals to ban the use of aerial spray have been filed by several lawmakers at the House of Representatives since the 14th Congress. But these measures failed to make it past the committee level.
The ban on aerial spraying of harmful chemicals can be imposed by the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), Saligan’s Juan Karlo Silva told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of a forum held in Quezon City.
The group will troop to the House of Representatives to hold a dialogue with several lawmakers to revive their campaign.
Dagohoy P. Magaway of MAAS said communities in banana plantations, particularly in the Davao region, are adversely affected by aerial spraying. He himself claimed to have been affected by aerial spraying.
“I have a liver problem now. I have to undergo dialysis twice a week because of my illness,” Magaway said.
Aerial spraying of pesticides is the fastest and efficient way of ridding plantations of pests. However, the group noted that the practice poses risks to farmers’s health, livelihood and to the environment.
According to Saligan, while agricultural plantations may have contributed to the economy, “it should not be at the expense of people’s lives and the environment”.
He noted that local governments, like Davao City, have tried to curtail the practice through an ordinance. However, after nine years of legal battle, the Supreme Court declared the Davao City Ordinance to be unconstitutional.
“While we respect the decision, it rendered the local governments powerless to respond to the issue. It is now, therefore, up to Congress to address this,” Silva said.
The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) earlier said aerial spraying is a “generally accepted agricultural practice” by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under certain limitations, which the banana industry is strictly adopting.
“A multisectoral monitoring team that is focused on banana plantations oversees the compliance of these regulations,” PBGEA Executive Director Stephen Antig said in July 2015.
Antig issued the statement in reaction to the House Committee on Ecology’s review of House Bill (HB) 3857, which called for a ban on aerial spraying.
PBGEA claimed that a fact-finding investigation conducted by Davao City officials in 2009 concluded that there was no scientific evidence to support the ban against aerial spraying in banana plantations in Davao City.