Philippines: Bishops ask banana growers to stop aerial spraying

Four members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have challenged the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) to exercise corporate responsibility by stopping the aerial spraying of chemicals in banana plantations in Mindanao.

In its letter addressed to PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig, the bishops, led by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, described the aerial spraying of chemicals by the country’s leading banana exporter as an “immoral" act "that infringes upon human health and dignity.”

Joining Rosales in this call are Auxiliary Bishops of Manila Broderick Pabillo and Bernardino Cortez and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez. The same well-placed officials of the CBCP have commissioned the Archdiocese of Manila Ministry of Ecology to assist the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS, Citizens against Aerial Spraying) while they are in Metro Manila.

MAAS has been campaigning for a permanent ban on aerial spraying in banana plantations.

The MAAS is a group of farmers, people’s organizations, environmentalists, and nongovernment organizations who are opposed to the aerial spraying of chemicals in banana plantations. The group was first organized in Davao where it successfully lobbied for the city government to pass an ordinance banning aerial spraying in the city.

The movement grew and the call to ban aerial spraying snowballed across the Davao Region where many banana plantations rely on aerial spraying of chemicals to protect their crops from pest.

The group has been asking Malacañang to issue an executive order banning the use of aerial spraying as an agricultural practice.

The United States-Environmental Protection Agency said that the drift caused by the aerial spraying of pesticides could reach up to 3.2 kilometers. There are about 200,000 people in the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao City affected by the potential hazardous effects of aerial spraying.

A study conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) in Barangay the village of Camocaan in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur, showed that 80 percent of the village residents were routinely exposed to pesticide drift. Pesticide residue has been found in the villagers’ blood, and in the air and soil samples.

“We cannot allow their suffering to go on any longer for anything that offends people, especially the least of our brothers and sisters, is an offense to God,” the bishops’ letter said.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to reach Antig at his office Tuesday but was told that he was in a meeting. On Wednesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer learned from a PBGEA insider that the group was still drafting its reply to the letter.

Antig, however, said, in a text message he sent to the media, that they were planning to invite the bishops to come over to Davao and witness how they do their business.


Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Publication date: 11/5/2009

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