Groups Across Asia Commemorate No Pesticide Use Day; Take Action Against Highly Hazardous Pesticides

DAVAO CITY,Philippines - On December 3, 1984, twenty-seven tons of lethal pesticide fumes leaked from Union Carbide’s factory in Bhopal, India. The leak immediately killed about 8,000 people and injured more than 500,000. Tens of thousands have died from the toxic exposure in the years since, and the death toll continues to rise as a result of long-term effects.

In commemoration of the world’s worst chemical disaster in 1984, Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific and its partners commemorate “No Pesticides Use Day” every year, to draw attention to the continuing life threatening impacts of chemical pesticides on people and the environment.

This year, PANAP and its partners draw attention to the dangers that highly hazardous pesticides pose to health and the environment. These highly hazardous pesticides are silent Bhopal disasters which continue to happen.

“The people continue to suffer to this day. Pesticide Action Network Philippines joins the Bhopal survivors to demand that both Union Carbide and its new owner Dow Chemical stop evading their liabilities and provide just compensation to their victims”, said Dr Romeo Quijano, President of PAN Philippines.

“We demand that governments fulfill their mandate of protecting the fundamental human rights to health and to a healthful environment by ensuring that agrochemical companies are adequately regulated and made accountable for the harm done because of irresponsible pursuit of profits,” Dr Quijano added.

PAN Philippines and its partner organizations are spearheading local campaigns to increase public awareness on the dangers of highly hazardous pesticides and the aerial spraying of pesticides, especially in banana plantations.

“We support the action of Davao City banning the aerial spraying of pesticides and are encouraged by the pending bills in Congress seeking a nationwide ban on aerial spraying of pesticides,” Dr Quijano said.

“The availability of highly hazardous pesticides, lack of information and knowledge of their hazards, aggressive marketing by industry as well as poverty, illiteracy, and lack of health facilities in the rural areas make pesticide poisoning a serious public health problem,” he said.

PAN Philippines had been collaborating with groups in Mindanao and Visayas in holding a host of events, including public fora, community awareness meetings, streamer hanging, distribution of pesticide information materials, film showing and others.

Philippine banana farmers protest aerial spray practise

Banana farmers hold a rally in the heart of the Philippines financial district in Makati City to protest aerial spray practice by multi-national companies engaged in agriculture in the country. Farmers brought banana blossoms to the offices of Marsman-Drysdale Group located in Philamlife Towers along Paseo de Roxas and Dole Stanfilco Philippines in 6750 Bldg. in Ayala Avenue and demanded to the owners and operators of these companies to immediately end the poison rain. (Photos courtesy of www.endpoison.multiply.com)

Enviromentalists rally vs. aerial pesticide spray in Davao

Members of Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray and National Task force Against Aerial Spraying protested Monday, August 24, 2009 at the Department of Health and urged DOH Secretary Francisco Duque to urgently "end poison rain" by banning aerial spraying in banana plantations in Davao. The DOH recommended earlier that aerial spraying of pesticides be stopped based on a study they commissioned showing traces of pesticides and carcinogenic substances in the blood of residents affected by the spray. (AKP Images / Gigie Cruz)

DOH study recommends ban of aerial spraying

Children patiently wait for the officials of the Department of Health to receive their flowers, their token of support to the agency, after it released its study recommending a ban on aerial spraying of pesticides as farmers exposed to aerial spraying hold a picket Tuesday, May 12, 2009 and call on the DOH to take concrete actions on the aerial spraying. (Photo by Brian Agrazamendez)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines - The impact of aerial spraying of pesticides compelled medical doctors under the Department of Health (DOH) to recommend the banning of aerial spraying method in the country, based on their study “Health and Environmental Assessment of Sitio Camocaan in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur”.

The DOH-commissioned study which was conducted in 2006 and presented in Davao City on Tuesday, said that “aerial spraying of pesticides should be stopped and a shift to organic farming techniques should be considered”.

This is one of the major calls of the researchers based on key findings such as 82 percent of respondents from Sitio Camocaan were indirectly exposed to aerially sprayed pesticides and 52 percent of whom experienced eye pain, eye tearing, headache, eye redness, eye itchiness, dizziness and skin itchiness which are consistent of acute effects of pesticides.

The study also found pesticide in the blood samples of community residents, which were not workers of the plantation. Pesticide was also found in the soil and air samples of Camocaan.

Moreover, the recommendation was also based on results that “unusual neurologic and dermatologic conditions were observed among the Camocaan group such as severe developmental delays, chloracne and cutaneous lupus erythematosus, thyroid gland disorders which are warning cases of long-term exposures to pesticides”.

“We are glad that finally, the aerial spraying issue is getting much deserved attention from the Department of Health. The people have suffered enough. The findings are a vindication that indeed these pesticides are designed to kill and there are many people from provinces outside Davao City with agribusiness banana plantations who are being poisoned by these chemicals,” said Cecilia Moran, a farmer from Dacudao, Davao City and president of the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS).

Carina Cardinas, president of the members of the Digos City Working Women's Guild stated in her letter to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III that they fear the long-term effect of aerial spraying in their area.

Many of her members whose houses are located very near a banana plantation are already complaining of symptoms and sickness brought about by aerial spraying. (“Natatakot po kami sa pangmatagalang epekto nang palaging pagbuga ng lason dahil ngayon pa lang, kung ano-anu na ang mga nararamdaman at mga sakit ng mga tao.”) her letter to Duque reads.

Former plantation workers of the Lapanday Group of Companies under the GADECO Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association, Inc. (GARBAI) also share Cardinas' lament.

GARBAI Chairman Juanito Nava told Secretary Duque in a letter that many of them were struck with illness and died of undetermined cause. Until now, they continue to fear for their lives due to long term exposure to aerially sprayed pesticides. (“Marami rin sa aming mga kasamahan ang nagkasakit at namatay sa di malamang dahilan. Natatakot po kami sa pangmatagalang epekto nang palaging pagbuga ng lason dahil ngayon pa lang, kung ano-ano na ang mga nararamdaman at mga sakit ng mga tao.”)

Representing Davao del Norte province, Danilo Taghoy, an official of Taba village, also expressed alarm over complaints of coughing, dizziness, headache that they continually experience brought about by aerial spraying in their area. Taghoy and the others joined the Davao-based Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) in a rally in front of the Regency Inn here where the DOH was to hold the study presentation.

Bringing flowers that symbolize their wish for a life free from poison spray, the farmers and environment advocates offered their presents to DOH and asked the agency to immediately act on the study recommendation to ban the toxic shower.

The study which was headed by principal investigator Dr. Allan Dionisio of the National Poison Management and Control Center was conducted in 2006 to document the health and environmental conditions existing in Sitio Camocaan, in response to complaints of residents which is adjacent to the Lapanday banana plantation where aerial spraying has been a practice for many years now.

The study compared two communities in terms of socio-economic and demographic profile which are Camocaan ang Baliwaga, also in Davao del Sur. In terms of distance, the difference is that Camocaan is adjacent to a banana plantation which aerial sprays pesticides while Baliwaga is 15 km. away from the nearest banana plantation but is 1.5 km. farther from two mango plantations.

Dr. Dionisio and his team also recommends an establishment of a health surveillance to detect chronic effects of pesticides which include a more detailed neurodevelopmental assessment of children, a follow up of previously diagnosed conditions, a screening for thyroid gland abnormalities and liver cancer, and periodic screening of biomarkers of pesticide exposure among residents.

They also called on concerned government agencies to review the guidelines for protecting communities from pesticide contamination from large plantations. (Angging Aban)

Spray Plane Crashes In South RP, Pilot Killed

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 19, 2007) – A small aircraft crashed and exploded Monday on a remote village in southern Philippines, killing its pilot, officials said.

Emmanuel Antonio, of the Air Transportation Office, said the aircraft crashed while spraying pesticide in the village of Magatos in Davao del Norte’s Asuncion town at around 8 a.m.

“The plane exploded on impact and we have received reports that its pilot, Captain Rico Cajucom, was killed in the crash,” Antonio told the MiThe Manila Times.

He said the spray plane crashed near a farm. “We still don’t know why the aircraft crashed,” he said.

It was not immediately known what company the pilot was working with, but Davao del Norte is the leading producer of bananas and many plantations run by multinationals Dole and Del Monte and local producers such as Lapanday, Marsman and TADECO. (Mindanao Examiner)

Aerial Spray: Environment Or Industry?

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 27 Mar) - While saying that the banana industry has the right to question the legality of the approved ordinance that banned aerial spraying in Davao City, an environmental non-government organization has expressed readiness to face the challenge of the possible legal battle—taking confidence on the gravity of the reasons behind the ban being health and environment.

Lia Jasmin Esquillo, executive director of the Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (Idis), said their group has been anticipating for the banana industry to exhaust all avenues they could find available just to stop the full implementation of the ordinance signed into law in February.

The ban, which gave banana plantations three months to make the necessary changes in their operations, will take effect by June 22.

“We have already expected for the banana industry to exploit the available space of being in a democracy. But we are ready for whatever they could come up with as we did before and we are confident that the law will favor the welfare of the people and the protection of the environment,” Esquillo said.

Esquillo said that they believe the law will see uphold the constitutional right of the people to a safe environment and healthy life. These were the same arguments, strongly backed by the precautionary principle, used to dense-up the demand to ban aerial spraying.

Recently, Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association chairman, Stephen Antig, said they will question the legality of the ordinance and expressed their desire for the city government to reconsider their three-month phase-out period.

The three-month period, according to Antig, is too short for the PBGEA-member to shift from aerial spraying to ground spraying procedures. He also said that the Philippines is the only country where aerial spraying in banana plantation is banned.

Esquillo also said that the banana companies were given more than enough time to during the council deliberations to “negotiate for a favorable phase-out period but what did they offer? 25 years? What do they think of the Dabawenyos? Stupid?”

While admitting the fact that it is only in the Philippines that aerial spraying ban is imposed in banana plantations, Esquillo said that the same calls in other banana producing countries are also being strongly pushed.

Esquillo is referring to Costa Rica and Columbia. She stressed that calls to ban aerial spraying is also strong in Alaska, Maine and California in USA, Victoria in Canada, New Zealand, India and some countries in the Europe.

Aerial spraying of pesticides is also banned in Denmark, Estonia, Slovenia and with partial bans in Italy, Australia and Belgium.

In the Philippines, aerial spraying in banana plantations was banned in Bukidnon in 2001. (Jeff Tupaz)

MAAS starts countdown for aerial spray ban

DAVAO CITY - The Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Mass) has started its own countdown for the full implementation of the ordinance banning aerial spraying.

The ordinance will take effect on March 22, the day when the whole world is celebrating World Water Day. The same day will be the start of the three-month phase-out period given to banana plantation companies to shift from aerial spraying to manual spraying. By June 22, no spray planes should fly over banana plantation in the city.

“The timing is just perfect with the celebration. We all know that one of the reasons why we pushed for the banning of aerial spraying in banana plantations is because we wanted the open bodies of water protected from the deadly drift of the chemicals,” said Dagohoy Magaway, spokesperson of Maas.

The group -- composed of various non-governmental organizations, people’s organizations, academe, church and some individuals—also pushed for the banning because of the danger and destruction that the chemical drift causes to the health of the people and crops.

Magaway said their group, a wide coalition, is anticipating and watching the implementation of the ban as the day close by. “Yes we are excited but we are watchful. We are not letting our guards off until we will see no airplanes hovering over us, sprinkling all that are underneath with deadly chemicals,” Magaway said.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the ordinance Feb. 9, a move that signaled the end of the 30-year practice in banana plantation. The signing also came two years after the ordinance was lodged in the city council.

“We know that the banana plantation companies have been affected by the ban and we are expecting that they will still try to block the implementation. But we are here, with the same strength and passion, to stop whatever they desire,” Magaway said.

“Before the ordinance was signed into law, banana companies unleashed their most trusted lobby person—Agriculture Arthur Yap but it did not work. Whoever will be sent out to block the implementation, we are ready for that,” Magaway said. (Jeff Tupaz)

“Against the Toxic Shower” Video Now In YouTube

DAVAO CITY - The roller-coaster ride of the people who pushed for the banning or aerial spraying in Davao City is now told in a clip featured in YouTube, a popular video hosting service in the internet.

Called Batok sa Makahilong Ulan (Against the Toxic Shower), the video traces the experience of the people—the communities affected by aerial spraying and various support groups—from the moment they started the campaign, the difficulties they hurdled, and their triumph.

The five-minuter video, created by an independent video producer who also shared the same advocacy, is being considered to be developed into a much lengthy video material which will also tackle in depth specific issues that confront people living within and around banana plantations.

The video was also recently shown some students of the Ateneo de Davao University during an environmental forum. Currently, copies of the video are being circulated among non-government organizations, people’s organizations, communities and schools.

A brief description of the video says the video was for the victims of aerial spraying and all victims of chemical poisoning. “The shower of toxic chemicals in banana plantations in the Philippine City of Davao has finally been put to stop by an ordinance passed by the city council and signed into law by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in February 9, 2007.

A lot of heartwarming and disheartening stories dense the struggle of the victims of aerial spraying and the people in various communities within and around the areas affected by the shower of toxic chemicals,” the description read.

“Aerial spraying is oppressive as it is destructive to the environment and deadly to animals and people,” it added. The video can be viewed using the tag “Batok sa Makahilong Ulan.” (Jeff Tupaz)