Photo: Aerial Chemical Spray Protests Continue In Southern Philippines

WE ARE NOT PESTS. Members of Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) on January 19, 2008 tear a mock copy of a decision of the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro City over the unconstitutionality of Davao City’s ordinance that banned the aerial spraying of chemicals in banana plantations. The decision, dated January 9, trashed the earlier decision of the Regional Trial Court Branch 17 in Davao City that upheld the ordinance’s validity and constitutionality. (AKP Images / Ruby Thursday More)

Banana Plantation Manager Killed In Southern Philippines

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jun) – An unidentified gunman killed a banana plantation executive in an attack in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police said Claudio Mala, operations manager of the Stanfilco Dole, was shot in the head while walking near the plantation in the village of San Vicente in Davao del Norte’s Panabo City.

The attack occurred on Monday, police said, but no individual or group claimed responsibility for the killing of the 55-year old manager.

The motive of the murder is still unknown, police said. The province is a known lair of communist insurgents.

Late last year, the New People’s Army accused the Japanese-owned banana packing company AJMR-Sumitomo Fruit Corporation of unfair labor practice after some 200 workers went on strike.

The workers were demanding that the AJMR-Sumitomo, previously owned by the Stanfilco Dole, recognize their union so they can negotiate for fair wages and other labor benefits. (Romy Bwaga)

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)

Plantation Union Shouts Harassment

DAVAO DEL NORTE (Mindanao Examiner / 28 Feb) – Picketing banana workers complained Wednesday that security guards of the Marsman Estate Plantation allegedly harassed them in the town of Santo Tomas in Davao del Norte province.

The workers were demanding immediate release of their union benefits under the so-called Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the remittance of their Social Security System and and Pag-ibig payments.

Domingo Deguma, president of Marsman Labor Association for National Democracy-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno, said the security guards, about 10 of them, allegedly threatened them should they continue their picket in front of the Marsman office.

“We were about to assemble in front of the management building when chief security Jun Dumile came up to us and told us that there will be trouble if we will proceed with the protest,” he said.

Deguma said Marsman up to now have not released the workers’ Spouse and Children’s Christmas Bonuses supposed to be due December last year. Some of the workers were not able to avail of salary loans because the company allegedly failed to remit the workers’ SSS and Pag-ibig payments.

“The guards were already posted in front of the management office before we started the picket. As we were preparing the picket line, they approached us and ordered us to disperse.”

“We were merely exercising our right to redress of grievance…Instead of addressing our concerns, they sent out armed guards to intimidate and force us to endure their capitalist exploitation,” said Deguma, who is also a coordinator for the party list Anakpawis.

Editha Duterte, Anakpawis-Southern Mindanao spokesperson, explained: “Their fear of us mounting the picket stems out from the fact that for the past months, the workers have been successful in pressing for their economic rights though collective action.”

“The workers’ experience taught them that picketing and other concerted actions are their only resort to counter capitalist exploitation. That is the reason why these workers never tire and they become more resolute—of pushing for their legitimate demands,” she said in a statement to the Mindanao Examiner.

There were no immediate statements from either officials or head of security of the Marsman.

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)

Banana Workers Up In Arms vs Plantation Owner In South RP

DAVAO DEL NORTE – Banana plantation workers and members of the militant party list group, Anakpawis, picketed in front of the firm’s office and demanded payments of labor union benefits.

Workers from the Marsman Estate Plantation, Inc. said the firm was allegedly delinquent in the payment of their benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreement or CBA.

They also accused Marsman of non-payment of social security remittances and other government taxes.

Banana worker Doming Deguma, who is also the Anakpawis coordinator in Santo Tomas town, alleged that Marsman has been delinquent in giving their benefits as prescribed in the CBA.

"What frustrates us more is that the officers of the union that negotiated the CBA continue to be the purveyors of this capitalist exploitation. Instead of protecting our rights and demanding the release of our benefits, these officers are the first ones to tell us there's nothing we can do," Deguma said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

In 2001, the officers of the Davao Marsman Labor Union (DAMLU) negotiated the CBA that expired March last year. Deguma said that these officers are "parrots" of the management's interests, adding that such kind of leadership is called "yellow unionism."

Currently, the workers of MEPI are trying to establish their genuine union, the Marsman Labor Association for National Democracy-National Federation of Labor Unions-Kilusang Mayo Uno (MARSLAND-NAFLU-KMU).

Deguma is also the president of MARSLAND-NAFLU-KMU.

But Deguma and the rest of the officers of their union are adamant. He said contrary to DAMLU's puppet claims, there is something that the workers can do.

In December of last year and early this month, Deguma said, the workers were able to force the management to release their wages following a series of successful pickets and lobbying.

"The workers now know that through these collective actions, we can assert our demands and secure our economic rights," Deguma said.

MEPI failed to release two consecutive payrolls in November last year and two more consecutive payrolls in January this year.

Editha Duterte, spokesperson of Anakpawis in Southern Mindanao, said yellow unionism is prevalent in the workers movement in the country.

"While genuine unions like MARSLAND-NAFLU-KMU campaign for higher wages, job security and the workers' democratic rights, yellow unions bow down to the whims and caprices of capitalists such as MEPI," Duterte said.

Last January 16, a certification elections (CE) was held among the workers which resulted to a run-off since none of the three contending unions garnered majority of the votes cast. The CE determines which union shall represent the workers in their CBA negotiations.

Deguma claimed that during the campaign period of the CE, the management of MEPI allegedly gave money to influence the workers into voting for DAMLU. "In effect, the unbridled and appalling connivance of the management and the yellow union DAMLU deprived the workers of establishing their genuine union," he said.

There were no immediate statements from Marsman executives or DAMLU officials.

Sweet And Chemical-Free, Sibulan Bananas Is Now Talk Of The Town

DAVAO CITY (Roger Balanza / 05 Oct) - A farmer’s cooperative in the hinterland village of Sibulan is fast becoming the talk of the town because not only its people are hardworking and friendly, but they also grow exportable sweet bananas that are 100 percent chemical-free.

The Sibulan Organization of Banana Growers Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SOBGROMCO) may only be a small player in the banana industry but it is slowly carving a niche in the large Japanese market for organic bananas.

Although covering only about 60 hectares, the SOBGROMCO highland bananas are in-demand in Japan which is its main market where the bananas fetch a dollar more than the non-organic Cavendish.

Aromatic, tastier and with a longer shelf life, the SOBGROMCO bananas of the pest-resistant Bongolan variety is endemic to the cool Upper Toril hinterlands, like Sibulan village, which is about 650 meters above sea level.

The farm, which lies inside the village’s thick forests, has been strongly endorsed by the different tribal councils in Toril district here and Davao del Sur province as a model farm for local natives. The cooperative farm straddles the boundary of Davao City and Davao del Sur. Its farm-hands are from the Tagabawa-Bagobo tribe, which accounts for 95 percent of the Sibulan population.

Mindanao’s exotic fruits could grab a bigger share of the current world demand for organic fruits, said the USAID–assisted Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM).

GEM fruit specialist Celso Enriquez said chemical-free fruits like mango, banana and papaya command a higher price and are most sought by countries preferring organic fruits. The leading exporter of organic bananas from Mindanao is the Ayala-owned TriStar Group of Banana Companies in Davao City which exports its bananas to Japan.

Firms like those run by the TriStar Group of Banana Companies, the flagship company of businessman Jesus V. Ayala, grows organic upland Cavendish bananas without the deadly chemical fertilizers and pesticides that fuel other banana companies to put profit over environmental concerns.

Environmentalist groups here have been locked in a protracted battle with banana companies over threats to the watershed areas. In Tamayong, Calinan, Pastor Apollo Quibuloy is leading his flock in the “Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name” in sending protest letters to the Davao City Council, for a stop to aerial spraying.

In several villages in the watershed areas, residents complain of respiratory diseases as plantations gobble up buffer zones to plant bananas a foot away from houses and intrude into critical slopes. But the debate boils down heavily on the most serious threat to the environment: massive use of pesticides and other deadly chemicals to control plant pests and diseases.

Mike Ayala, who has taken over the TriStar as its new chairman, said the firm experience has shown large-scale agricultural plantations can grow in environmentally-sensitive areas with corporate responsibility balancing profit and nature on an even keel. Tristar grows its top-grade bananas with 85 percent organic fertilizer.

Pest and weed control make use of company-devised secrets from a decade old study that showed pro-nature farm practices are as effective as using deadly chemicals. Although the company subscribes to medically confirmed studies that fungicide that controls banana leaf diseases is harmless, it has abandoned aerial spraying and adopted ground-based mechanical spray applications–all for the sake of calming down public fears.

Ayala and William Leh, Tristar president and chief executive officer, recently local government officials headed by City Administrator Wendell Avisado and Councilors Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, Conrado Baluran and Gerald Bangoy in a tour of the TriStar farm in Tagakpan, Sirib, Subasta and Manuel Guianga in Calinan.

Amid fears of threat to the environment, the tour afforded Cabling, chair of the environmental committee, Baluran of Agriculture and Bangoy of Health, the other side of the coin: Tristar could be the model farm that would calm down public apprehension agricultural intrusion in the watershed areas could damage their water sources.

Ayala said that Tristar miracle was not achieved overnight but went through more than a decade of a painfully slow trial-and-error routine anchored on the company mission that profit could be gained without jeopardizing the environment. The Ayalas are not new in the industry.

The JVA Group of Companies, Tristar’s predecessor, is among the trailblazers of the lowland banana industry that placed Davao region in the world of sweet bananas. Tristar is among several companies which has locations in Calinan and other upland districts, as demand for sweet upland Cavendish bananas soars. I

ndustry figures show that about 16,000 hectares in Davao City have been planted to bananas with AMS accounting for 2,600; Stanfilco, 656; Lapanday, 1100 and Tristar, 656.

Despite being a minor player in the industry, Leh said Tristar has dominated the local organic banana export to Japan where its bananas have a special niche in the current vogue for naturally-grown fruits. Organic bananas are more expensive in Japan, where Tristar exports all its products.

Leh said Tristar has placed Davao City bananas in the highest level of the organic fruits category –and the company is responding with equal intensity to the trust given by the Japanese market.

He explained that in Japan, distributors in the organic product markets adopt what is called as the “rule of traceability,” where sellers certify their products but place the burden on the suppliers if end-users raise complaints.

Tristar uses only organic fertilizer that the company itself produces, that mealy bug infestation can be minimized with use of harmful detergent, that scaring beetles can be lured away from the banana fruits with an innocent plant and that corn borers are as happy if given an alternate feeding ground without attacking the banana plants.

The biggest argument Tristar could be a model farm in the watershed area lies on a creature that you could not find in other banana farms: frogs One of the most sensitive denizens of this earth, frogs croaked, leaped and danced all over the farm under the shades of the banana leaves. (Mindanao Insider)