Not giving up

Rody urged to issue EO banning aerial spray

ENVIRONMENT advocates are not giving up despite the Supreme Court (SC) ruling affirming the decision of the Court of Appeals which declared the city ordinance banning aerial spraying of chemicals as an agricultural practice as unconstitutional.

In a unanimous decision, the SC denied for lack of merit the petitions filed by the Davao City government and the city residents led by Wilfredo Mosqueda.

Davao Mamamayang Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) president Dagohoy Magaway said aside from filing a motion for reconsideration as a response to the SC ruling, they will also launch a national campaign against aerial spraying this month or early next month.

“We will (ask) President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order banning aerial spraying,” Magaway said.

The Maas, he said, together with other environment advocates around the globe is also forming a network against aerial spraying.

“Naa pa mi sa stage karon sa pagpahiluna aning global network. We are also calling the consumers gikan sa gawas na unta i-demand sa mga producers sa bananas to stop aerial spraying and other mode of (chemical) applications,” Magaway said.

Maas and the Interface Development Interventions (Idis), along with other environment groups in Davao Region, have long been insisting that pesticide drifts coming from the aerial spray plane can cause sickness in neighboring communities.

Magaway said that there are nine barangays in the city that have wanted aerial spraying banned, including Sirib, Mandug, Tigatto, Dacudao and Manuel Guinga, among others. Other affected barangays are Wangan and Tagakpan.

Some 95 local and international civil society organizations (CSOs) and institutions had petitioned the Fertilizer and the Pesticides Authority (FPA) to ban the aerial spraying in banana plantations in the country.

In a position paper drafted by CSOs and Idis, they highlighted the dangers of using aerial spraying as a method to apply fungicide as it contaminates nearby communities and water resources indiscriminately. ICT

CHRISTIAN MARK LIM LANDMARK MISTAKE. Members of Mamamayang Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) were shocked according to Maas President Dagohoy Magaway when the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals that Davao City Ordinance No. 030907, which bans aerial...