RDC seeks deferment of spray ban

The Davao Regional Development Council has appealed to the Department of Agriculture to defer implementation of the aerial spraying ban.                     
Stressing that an abrupt stop to aerial spraying of fungicides is tantamount to killing the country’s banana industry, the Regional Development Council 11 urged the Government to direct an independent body to come up with a more comprehensive study to establish if, indeed, aerial spraying is hazardous to people’s health, before banning this method.
“We cannot afford to lose an industry that’s employing half a million people and one of the Philippines’ top export earners without a strong basis and deeper study,” RDC 11 chair Vicente Lao said after the Council deliberated on the issue in Davao City last December 15.
The Council’s social and economic development committees had earlier endorsed their positions that the banning of aerial spray be held in abeyance as it will adversely affect the socioeconomic development of the Davao Region, given the lack of viable alternatives.
Lao added that the Council’s action had been prompted by Health Secretary Francisco Duque’s recommendation to the Department of Agriculture to ban aerial spray as a method of controlling Sigatoka disease affecting bananas until its safety is established by the Philippine banana industry. Secretary Duque based his move on the findings of a DOH-commissioned study, Health and Environmental Assessment of Sitio Camocaan, Davao del Sur, which proposed the stopping of aerial spray and shifting to organic farming to avoid pesticide contamination of the environment.  
The Camocaan findings, however, were disputed by the banana growers who contend that aerial spraying is still the safest and most cost-effective method with no proven case of death or poisoning reported in 40 years. 
DA 11 director Carlos Mendoza said his agency considers the adoption of aerial spraying of fungicides as the best method and that manual or boom spraying would pose more danger to workers’ health as this exposes them to more chemicals for a longer period.
The Council, meanwhile, proposed for the close-monitoring of the banana growers’ adoption of safety procedures and adherence to the Fertilizers and Pesticide Authority’s Good Agricultural Practices, particularly in the use of fungicides.