By Judy G. Quiros
HAGONOY, Davao del Sur, Jan. 29 (PNA) -- Mayor Franco Calida of Hagonoy, this province called for the conduct of another study by the local government in the banana plantation in Sitio Kamukhaan which was purported earlier to have residents infected with diseases caused by aerial spraying.
“I would like to challenge another group, a group without hidden agenda, to come up with a professional study on Kamukhaan village,†Calida said at the recent forum on the Science Behind Aerial Spraying held at UP Mindanao, Mintal, Davao City.
Calida made the call as he accused a group of medical practitioners who first made the study using the people of Kamukhaan (the real name of which is Camocaan) to make it appear that aerial spraying is hazardous to the health of people and to the environment.
He said he has ordered the local government to conduct a separate study on Kamukhaan.
“We made a separate study on the village, and we found out that the reports made by the said group are not true. The residents whom they identified to have suffered diseases caused by aerial spraying in the area are not actual residents of that area. So their study has no basis at all. We should take a look at this,†he said.
Calida said the Pesticide Action Network (PAN), an international group whose advocacy is to ban chemicals even if these are approved for use by government agencies of countries around the world, spearheaded moves against aerial spraying in banana plantations.
With the study on hand, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III then came up with a recommendation to the Department of Agriculture to ban the farm practice.
However, the World Health Organization and the University of the Philippines-Manila questioned both the way the study was conducted and its result.
The recent forum was attended by the academe, the local government, non-government organizations, banana growers, and others.
Alma Cunanan of the small growers association in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte said groups that call for the banning of aerial spraying “are making a livelihood out of our livelihood.â€
A certain Mr. Ramos, former employee of a banana corporation said he was exposed to aerial spraying as he was in the banana business for several years but never suffered any disease caused by fungicide or pesticide used in the aerial spraying.
He then posed a challenge to the Department of Health (DOH) to ban internal combustion engines since it is proven to be cancer-causing and hazardous to health.
But he recognized the statement of Davao City Councilor Leonardo Avila is his brief talk at the forum that the City Council of Davao enacted the anti-aerial spraying ordinance because it invoked the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code which provides the constitutional right of the people to health safety.
A certain Mr. Puyod of UP Mindanao also stood up at the forum and said their family was the first to own a banana plantation in Davao City and has operated for 40 years now.
He said he has not heard any of their workers or family members infected by a disease caused by the pesticides they used in aerial spraying.
Dr. Andrew Hewitt, an expert on the application of aerial spraying and pesticide, was the main speaker of the said forum.
He and his group visited Sitio Kamukhaan early this week and saw some planes used by some banana corporations in aerial spraying.
Hewitt at the forum said Kamukhaan represents a good banana plantation area.
“Kamukhaan was a good practice area,†he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Norlito Gicana, executive director of the Food Pesticide Authority (FPA) Region 11, said they are open to another study on aerial spraying. (PNA)
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