By Yasmin D. Arquiza
Vera Files
Davao City—Once a week, the drone of airplanes shatters the early morning calm in Calinan, a cluster of small farmlands in the hilly terrain around Mount Apo. It is the signal for farmers to rush indoors or take cover and stop feeding livestock, for women to pull down clothes hanging out to dry, and for everyone to stay indoors, windows shuttered.
The small fixed-wing planes, known as crop dusters, are owned by the huge banana plantations nearby, spraying fungicide, a kind of pesticide, on the banana plants. Residents say anyone caught outdoors during an aerial spray is likely to experience skin itching, eye irritation and nausea. Water exposed to fungicide turns milky white, and vegetables like malunggay curl up or retain a sticky residue.
Because of their rapid expansion, Davao’s big banana plantations are encroaching into the city’s built-up areas and farmlands like Calinan, where small farmers grow crops and fruits such as durian and lanzones that are sold in Davao City markets. Communities around these plantations have been complaining of health problems every time toxic pesticides would drift their way.
Please click to http://www.verafiles.org/index.php/focus/127-aerial-spraying for the rest of the story.
this is a good discussion on social responsibility. obviously whoever owns the plantation are liable for health, sickness and among many others. a regulatory framework must be formulated and implemented by local governments rule of law. I will be in favor of giving the plantation owner a chance to correct within 30 days only, provide a framework of their corporate mission including prevention of health risk and how are they going to implement its own social responsibilities to the public. If not, pay liabilities or penalties to family and to the local governing bodies. If this matter cannot be resolved by the local governing bodies and the owner of the business, the public has the right to sue both entities. Meaning the local government unit is also liable for not looking after public health.
This is another case of poor governance where the top malacanang has not been able to educate its local government units to properly enforce rules and regulations. The ultimate fault remains to be under this administration.
After reading the link, there’s an obvious problem of economic zoning. The picture of the plantation is along the side of the roads where children walk to school.
According to Jojie Ilagan Bian on her blogsite: http://mindanaworld.blogspot.com/2006/03/ecozones-in-mindanao.html
“The Special Economic Zone Act provides that the government shall actively encourage, promote, induce and accelerate a sound and balanced industrial, economic and social development of the country in order to provide jobs to the people specially those in the rural areas, increase their productivity and their individual and family income, and thereby improve the level and quality of their living condition through the establishment, among others, of special economic zones in suitable and strategic locations in the country and through measures that shall effectively attract legitimate and productive foreign investments.”
When zoning of businesses affects the health of the public, then the purpose of increasing employment will not justify the cost of treating illnesses. I agree with Jojie that investment must be in suitable and strategic locations.
thanks ellen.
Organic fungicides that are non-toxic can be used instead. Asiandelight is right, plantation owners should finance the R&D and production of such in collaboration with government and/or private institutions. Once developed and produced, this then can be sold locally and perhaps even export it. International market is huge, e.g., Asian and Latin American countries. Our country is too dependent on imports. We have brilliant doctors, scientists, engineers and technocrats who for sure can make this possible. In cases when raw materials are not available, then import it. This is what other countries do.
One organic fungicide used to control Black Sigatoka is made in India. Its contents are as follows:
Organic Extract : Chitosan Oligo Saccharin = 0.5%
Other ingredient : Natural marine extract ingredients = 8%
Other : Water to make into 100%
This fungicide does not contain poison and residue.
I believe our technocrats can easily duplicate and innovate the above.
Faced with rising energy costs and the possibility of a power shortage by 2010, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed Senate Bill 2665 “mandating the immediate re-commissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plan (BNPP).”
It only proves that the above Marcos project would have long benefited the people had it not been stopped by then Cory Aquino.
Pesticide is harmful to bugs and worms and also to people and animals. Come to think of it. We should not be disturbed in our homelots even by the harmless water draining from a neighbor’s rain spout. What more with pesticide doses encroaching into our property and us. They can flood themselves with anything but taking care they dont include us. Only bananas.
Gloria’s fake government is concerned only with the mighty, the small and poor farmers and families, they can die whenever. From the central to rural governments, a human being’s life is not important, banana is.
Mindanao doesn’t need pesticide.
Those fixed-wing flyers must fixed their target at Malacanan.
Ang peste ay nakatira sa Aviles Ave..sa palasyo..yon ang dapat bombahan ng pesticide para umalis na at malinis ang bayan..
..hindi ba those who were given much have a bigger responsibility to help? why can’t the plantation owners not help?..shared responsibility..gov’t and the rich…kung sabagay kay gma na ang kuarta ng bayan..tumulong naman siya..impossible mangyari…St.Jude, patron of the impossible (feast day Oct. 28) paki tulak naman ang kapitbahay mo diyan sa Aviles para tumulong..
“paki tulak naman ang kapitbahay mo diyan sa Aviles para” matigok! Yan ang korek, Rose.
… and while they’re at it, might throw some bananas, too.
Glueria badly need some…
…tonight.
Here’s why the BIR Chief resigned:
BIR Commissioner Lilian Hefti was asked to resign to give way to Sixto Esquivias, a recommendee of Ralph Recto which puts Recto in control of both BIR and Bureau of Customs where his protégé Napoleon “Boy” Morales is Commissioner.
Ralph Rectum, after being resoundly rejected by the Filipino people, is still very much in government and laughing at us…
And if Vilma Santos runs and gets elected as Vice President, Recto would be like this Big Fat Guy Mike Arroyo cornering all the juicy projects and contracts.
Bananas are our top agri export. The export bizis controlled by 3 American companies Dole/Stanfilco owned by Castle and Cooke; Phil. Packaging by Del Monte; and Mindanao Fruit by United Brands. One Japanese firm, Sumitomo Shoji Kaisha, completes the list.
They contract growing with local planters like Hijo Plantation of JV Ayala, Lapanday Agricultural which is owned by Cito Lorenzo’s family, Tadeco which is owned by Tonyboy Florendo, Marsman-Drysdale Plantation owned by the Philippine-born George Drysdale, Dizon family-owned Dizon Farms, Davao Fruits by Sumitomo and other smaller farms all in Davao and the rest of Mindanao.
Dole and Del Monte each have an aggregate contracted land area of about 6,000 hectares. Florendo has 4,500 hectares, Hijo has about 1,400, Marsman has 1,100 hectares.
This will be a showdown between NGOs/Duterte/Quiboloy and the elite of the elite in business and politics.
Why is the Philippines poor? Because land is controlled by the very few who each hire 10,000 farm helps at a pittance.
Real Land Reform without exemptions.
Imagine if the hundreds of thousands of farmers in bananas alone setting up coops and selling directly their own produce to Dole or Del Monte!
one cannot have real landreform without shedding blood and pinoys are afraid of blood.
norpil,
Even Gloria is frightened of Trillanes’ blood!