The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) welcomes the conduct of a study on aerial spraying that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will soon do in order for government to once and for all have a scientific basis for a definite policy on the issue. However, in a statement, the banana association cautioned the DENR against repeating the same mistakes that it a Department of Health-funded study group in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur allegedly committed.
Reiterating a stand earlier announced, PBGEA President Stephen Antig said that, if properly conducted, the study results could hopefully be the first solid basis for a lasting policy of the government on the issue, in which PBGEA won in the Court of Appeals twice. The CA ruled that the Davao City ordinance banning the use of aerial spraying in agriculture is unconstitutional. However, the ruling is expected to be appealed with the Supreme Court by the city government, the losing party.
Antig however cautioned the DENR, particularly the Environment Management Bureau tasked by Environment Sec. Lito Atienza to do the comprehensive research, to avoid the pitfalls of a botched study in order to come up with credible results.
He cited the controversial health assessment of Camocaan, Hagonoy, Davao del Sur whose conduct had been the butt of criticisms by technical experts, knowledgeable researchers and peers in the science community due to several inadequacies.
Transparency
Since it would settle a very contentious issue, Antig said, the study by the EMB should be conducted with utmost transparency. To do this, the study should be strictly monitored by a neutral task force wherein all stakeholders are equitably represented, he said. This monitoring group will be allowed to check on the conduct of the study and allowed to input their observations, from the composition of the research group up to the time the findings are made public.
Ban biased researchers
The EMB should see to it that researchers, technical experts and personnel composing the study team are free from biased, the PBGEA president said.
To prevent the repetition of questionable practices allegedly committed in the Camocaan health study funded by the Department of Health, Antig proposed that EMB should check on the professional background of the prospected members of the study team and see to it that they are not biased for or against aerial spraying.
Earlier, PBGEA spokesman Anthony B. Sasin accused the Camocaan study of being rigged as some members of the 11-man study team were alleged to be members of organizations known to be advocating the ban on aerial spraying or for instituting a government policy totally against the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming.
Antig said that doctors, sanitary engineers and other researchers found to be officers or members of non-government organizations funded by foreign governments or agencies should be expelled from the team.
No clandestine/foul tactics
The PBGEA official also asked EMB to guard against the use of unethical practices in the conduct of the study in order to preserve the integrity and credibility of the findings.
Earlier, PBGEA technical experts exposed some underhanded practices allegedly employed by some research team members in the Camocaan study. Antig said PBGEA has a list of these questionable practices employed in the Camocaan study which he said was made without the knowledge of the Lapanday Foods Corporation which owns the banana plantation near Camocaan, the local government unit and local health officials.
No less than the Philippine Health Research Systems, being promoted by the Department of Science and Technology and DOH, calls for ethical health research as one of the strong advocacies of the system, Antig said.
No gimmickry/ antics
The EMB and its study team should also guard against being used as a tool for gimmickry and antics by groups advocates against aerial spraying during the conduct of the study, Antig said.
While groups advocating against aerial spraying are free to conduct legal activities such as conduct rallies and demonstrations to dramatic their cause, the EMB and its study team should not allow them to disrupt the conduct of the study and influence the study team in its work.
Transparent announcement
Once the EMB is done with the study and would now be ready to make it public, the presentation should be transparent wherein all stakeholders will be invited, unlike the DOH-funded Camocaan study whose findings were disclosed in an almost exclusive affair, wherein only DOH people and anti-aerial spraying advocates and a select group of their favorite media outlets were invited.
PBGEA spokesman Sasin lamented that the banana growers association even had a hard time getting a copy of the study because it was not furnished one before the presentation of the study results.
