Brad Miller* – IPS/IFEJ
DAVAO CITY, Mindanao, Nov 29 2007 (IPS) – The villagers in the mountains surrounding Davao city are bracing for the day the crop-dusting planes resume dropping fungicide on the banana plantations and the wind blowing toxic fog over their houses, water supply and children.
Children going to school as aerial sprayer flies overhead Credit: IDIS
They fly over early morning, 5 am, says one local farmer, describing the noise and irritating fumes trailing behind the planes as they skim over at tree-top height.
In the #39sari-sari #39, or general store, in the town of Sirib, workers and small, independent farmers gather to drink Tanduay rum and relax in their off hours. Right across the road are the banana fields owned by the Lapanday Corporation, one of the Filipino companies that grows export-quality produce for United States-based multinational corporations Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita and Japanese importers like Sumitomo.
After two years of protesting and lobbying, opponents of the aerial application of pesticides by the banana companies scored a victory when the Davao city council under its mayor Rodrigo Duterte passed an ordinance in February outlawing the practice. And despite the clout of the banana industry in these parts the ensuing petition in the regional court to have the ban overturned was defeated.
But that may prove to be a temporary reprieve. On Nov. 16 the court of appeals issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) suspending the ban on aerial spraying for 60 days though he decision was made public only this week.
On Wednesday Wendel Avisado, Davao city administrator, told reporters that the legal department was now looking for ways to file an appeal against the lifting of the ban, which he described as part of the judicial process .
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Bananas are the Philippines second most abundant export crop, with the island of Mindanao producing 75 percent of the country #39s yield. The Philippine Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), which represents as many as 18 corporations, has filed a suit in the court of appeals, claiming the ordinance is unconstitutional and will cause substantial economic damage to the region. Protagonists on both sides of the legal battle feel the issue is best decided in the nation #39s Supreme Court.
The opposition to the aerial fumigation began when locals saw their harvests of coconut, cacao and lanzones plummet by more than 50 percent due to direct contact with the chemicals and an aphid infestation that migrated from the fumigated banana fields. Vegetable crops withered, livestock died. They no longer felt safe drinking rain water.
It was in these hard times of crop failure that small farmers were often approached with an offer from the banana companies, sell us your land and we #39ll give you a job .
The banana industry says the fungicide it commonly uses, Dithane, is classified in the least hazardous category by the Philippine Fertiliser and Pesticide Authority, but studies done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say it contains cancer-causing elements. A survey conducted in affected areas like Sirib by Kalusugan Alang sa Bayan (Health for the People) Inc. shows elevated levels of cancer, birth defects, cerebral palsy and asthma. Fever, vomiting and skin rashes have also occurred after exposure, with 62 percent of those interviewed saying they have received an actual #39pesticide shower #39 during aerial fumigation. Banana fields are discontinuous and patchy, and the crop-dusting planes failed to abide by the 50 m buffer zone allocated to inhabited areas and water sources as specified in the environmental compliance certificates issued to the companies.
If plants die, what about me? asks Rosita Bacalso as she runs her hands down brown arms marked with milky-white scars remnants of chemical fall-out from her neighbour, the AMS banana plantation. Bacalso and her husband are members of the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spray (People Against Aerial Spraying) which, along with the environmental non-profit Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), organised weekly trips to protest in front of Davao city hall after initial dialogue with the banana companies failed to solve the conflict. IDIS community organiser Brian Agrazamendez says the initial meetings of 30 villagers snowballed enough to need 30 passenger jeepneys to transport them to downtown Davao (about 110 people). After nine months of intense lobbying and campaigning, the ban was ratified.
While there are two other provinces in Mindanao that prohibit aerial spraying, Bukidnon and North Cotobato, their legislations were preemptive and in areas that lacked a strong banana business lobby.
What makes the Davao city ban ordinance a landmark, stresses IDIS executive director Lia Esquillo, is that this is the first place it has occurred where there is an entrenched banana industry with a long history-30 years-of aerial spraying.
It is the unprecedented nature of the ban that has the banana companies worried that a #39domino effect #39 will occur in other regions, as well as in other aspects of the economy. They say they cannot afford to switch to manual, boom or sprinkler methods of applying chemicals, and as their profits drop, a large percentage of the approximately 5,000 workers directly dependent on the banana industry in Davao may lose their jobs-not just on the plantations, but in the packing, transport and retail spheres as well. The alarm has been sounded that the banana corporations may relocate to areas where aerial spraying is not prohibited.
On Nov. 19, the Lapanday Corporation announced it would be laying off 200 workers, saying they have been forced to reduce the acreage they farm because the ban ordinance has made it impossible to control the Sigatoka disease in the territory without aerial fumigation. They called the decision painful.
They are thinking of their businesses, says Leo Avila, councilor of Davao city #39s First District. But what about the others, the coconut and cacao farmers?
Avila, who is one of the architects of the ban ordinance and sits on both the environment and natural resources and agriculture and food committees, is keenly aware of the balance needed between the environment and the economy. Big plantations contribute to the livelihood of the people, and many people would rather be exposed to deadly chemicals in the absence of any alternative, he says. But I believe agriculture must be sustainable.
Avila says that if the banana companies move out of Davao, they could be replaced with more sustainable and environment-friendly farming projects to provide jobs and revenue. There are existing plantations that are low-chemical, and in the community of Sibulan, indigenous farmers are producing organic bananas for export to Europe and Japan. Ban advocates believe banana companies do not need to conduct aerial spraying to survive, as can be seen in Bukidnon and the Baguio District where they are actually expanding.
The ban #39s proponents have established a People #39s Court Watch to monitor the proceedings in the appeals court and keep the public informed, even as the PBGEA, encouraged by the Nov. 16 TRO, moves to prove the ban unconstitutional.
According to Avila, there is nothing illegal or improper about the ordinance, since the #39 #39decision was based on our powers , delegated by the constitution in the Local Government Code of 1991. He points to the highlighted section in the fat, blue codebook under the general welfare clause that mandates local governments to promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology.
There are vulnerable people, children and pregnant women, that need to be protected, he says.
As lawyers and judges deliberate over the lives and welfare of Filipinos, the villagers in the mountains above Davao continue to watch the sky.
(*This story is part of a series of features on sustainable development by IPS-Inter Press Service and IFEJ-International Federation of Environmental Journalists.)
