Source: http://businessmirror.com.ph/
By: Jonathan L. Mayuga
Correspondent, Business Mirror
Manila, Philippines -- THE effort to impose the ban on aerial spraying as an agricultural practice because of the hazards it poses to human health and the environment is gaining ground as environmental groups continue to put pressure on concerned government agencies.
In a meeting of high-level government officials last week, the Department of Health (DOH)-led Interagency Committee on Environmental Health (Iaceh) has included in its draft policy paper on pesticides the banning of aerial spraying, which is widely used in big plantations in Mindanao, where cavendish banana for export is grown.
Environmental groups like the EcoWaste Coalition, Greenpeace, National Task Force Against Aerial Spraying (NTFAAS) and the Davao-based Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) earlier demanded from Iaceh to issue the ban after government public-health experts established in a study the dangerous levels of aerial spraying by banana growers on health and the environment.
Iaceh, which also acted on the recommendation of the National Poison Management and Control Center in the University of the Philippines-Manila (UP-NPMCC) on its 2006 study “Health and Environmental Assessment of Sitio Camocaan, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur,” noted there are no guidelines on techniques and procedures on aerial spraying, environmental and health monitoring, as well as designation of buffer zones.
The ban forms part of the DOH’s short-term action after observing policy gaps in pesticide use, among which is the absence of a regulation on aerial spraying in agricultural activities, particularly precautionary measures and risk assessment, and reduction on the pervasive use of agrochemicals.
The body is also looking into the compliance of agricultural plantation to social responsibility to the community, environmental-impact assessment and their occupational-health program for agricultural workers, notwithstanding the government’s admission of its inability to fully monitor and police the practice with only three personnel for the entire region.
“To be in business is not a matter of right, but a privilege. In the discourse about aerial spraying of pesticides, wherein a clear-cut policy is absent ever since and severe public health and environment hazards are clearly established and verifiable, that privilege is mandatorily prevailed upon by the most supreme right—the right to life of affected citizens,” Rene Pineda Jr., a member of the EcoWaste Coalition and head of NTFAAS, told officials in the meeting.
Pineda added that it becomes mandatory for the government to immediately stop the practice owing to its mandated duty to protect that right or face the consequences of violating their mandates.
“Banning aerial spraying fits well with the DOH’s ‘National Objectives for Health 2005-2010’ and should be formalized with immediate effect to stop the chemical fumigation of people without their consent,” Rei Panaligan, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition, said.
The EcoWaste Coalition cited Chapter 4 on “Reducing the Burden of Disease” of the “National Objectives for Health,” which lists the need to “protect individuals, families, workers and communities from exposure to occupational and environmental hazards, disease agents or stressors” as one of the government’s strategic thrusts for 2005-10.
Presiding over the meeting, Health Undersecretary Mario Villaverde, a public health expert himself, commented that the draft policy directives are based on studies they have gathered related to pesticide poisoning in the Philippines. During the meeting, Villaverde told representatives from the plantation and chemical companies: “Pwede kayo mag-spray sa buong mundo, basta walang maapektuhan kahit isang tao [You can spray anywhere in the world, as long as no single human being is adversely affected].”
Company representatives presented their defense before the Iaceh that aerial spraying is the most cost-effective method of application against Black Sigatoka approved by the Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority. They added that the use of technologically advanced tools has increased accuracy and margin of safety vis-à-vis off-target spray. Sigatoka is a disease affecting the cavendish banana that manifests as a yellowish fungus in the leaves.
During the meeting, Cecilia Moran, a farmer and MAAS president representing affected villagers from Davao City, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, dismissed the company representatives’ claims, saying: “Hindi kami Sigatoka, kaya dapat hindi kami nauulanan ng spray ninyo. Hindi naman namin sinasabi na itigil na ninyo ang business nyo kasi may alternative pa naman kayo tulad ng ibang mga asensadong plantations na ground spraying lang. Samantalang kami wala ng magagawa kung hindi magdusa at maghintay sa sarili naming lupa ng kamatayan dahil sa aerial spray. [We are not Sigatoka, so you should not rain your spray on us. We are not saying you should stop your business because you have an alternative that more progressive plantations are using, namely ground spraying. We are helpless. We can’t do anything, except suffer in our own land and wait to die because of aerial spraying].”
Villaverde also pointed out that since the DOH is tasked with safeguarding people’s health, the agency needs studies from the plantation group that will prove that their practices are safe on people’s health.
Toxicologist and medical doctor Lynn Crisanta Panganiban of the UP-NPMCC presented the various pesticide-poisoning studies during the meeting. The ban-aerial-spraying issue was later referred to the Iaceh subsector on toxic substances and hazardous waste.
The body is expected to submit its final recommendation for action within five days.
Complete Address
http://businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/53-agri-commodities/13839-move-to-ban-aerial-spraying-in-mindanao-gains-ground.html
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