A leader of the House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of a measure mandating the protection of farmers and farmworkers from agricultural hazards, such as harmful pesticides.
In House Bill (HB) 6279, or the proposed Farm Workers’ Protection Act, Deputy Speaker Sharon Garin of Aambis-OWA party-list said her proposal will provide firmer guidelines on the protection of farmers and farmworkers.
“Our farmworkers are the ones heavily affected by the adverse effects of exposure to harmful chemical,” Garin said in a statement.
The Farm Workers’ Protection Act of 2016 is pending with the Committee on Agriculture and Food since August 30.
Garin, citing the Journal of Rural Medicine of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine, said around 5 million people die every year as a result of intentional, accidental, and occupational exposure to pesticide poisoning.
“In addition to regular agricultural workers, another particular concern is the exposure of young children who are often employed in vegetable growing from an early age. In a study in Northeast Luzon, children in the area were reported to have health symptoms, such as headaches, skin irritation and abdominal pain after the use of chemicals,” she said.
According to Garin, the most common types of pesticides used in the country are organophosphate insecticides, carbamates and synthetics pyrethroids—each providing distinct hazards to pesticides handlers. Organophosphate can be absorbed by human through skin or inhalation, resulting nausea, diarrhea and other adverse effects on the nervous system.
She added many carbamates are known carcinogens, while pyrethroids may also cause users to experience dizziness, headache, nausea and diarrhea while exposure to immense doses leads to acute poisoning and can be fatal.
Upon the enactment of the bill, farm owners and operators shall be required to conduct mandatory testing for the presence of organophosphate pesticides in their respective agricultural sites.
The bill also proposes to educate farmworkers and their families regarding the hazards of exposure to pesticides, how to avoid such exposures to children, personal clothing and possessions, and what to do if pesticide exposure or contamination occurs.
Every incident of pesticide exposure to farmworkers or their families, whether by direct exposure to pesticide applications or from the drift of pesticides from the application site must be reported to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Under the bill, the DA is empowered to establish and assess penalties or fines against farm owners and operators for violations of this proposal. In no circumstance will any penalty or fine to exceed P100,000.
The measure indicated that the DA shall issue an annual report of all farm inspections to the legislature for the previous calendar year, including compliance with the requirements contained in this proposal; enforcement actions, fines and penalties for noncompliance resulting from such inspections and pesticide exposure or contamination reports.