PILIPINO Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) president Stephen Antig is saddened by the stance of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on aerial spraying.

A letter, in answer to the one released by the CBCP, is being drafted by the umbrella group of the Cavendish banana exporting industry.

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"We are deeply saddened by the letter," Antig said in an interview Wednesday. "They should have consulted the stakeholders first (before coming out with the letter)."

Prayer vs spray

In a letter, the CBCP appealed to the banana growers in Mindanao to stop employing aerial spray in their operation, calling it an "immoral practice that infringes upon human health and dignity."

The letter was signed by Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Rosales, Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Bishop Bernardino Cortez, and Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

"The chemicals sprayed from the airplanes that you use for your bananas indiscriminately expose the people and the environment to poison. International and local studies point to the hazards of aerial spraying of pesticides on humans and the ecosystems," the bishops said in their letter.

"We are one with all affected people in Mindanao in working for their deliverance from this immoral practice of aerial spraying that infringes upon human health and dignity. We cannot allow their suffering to go on any longer for anything that offends people, especially the least of our brothers and sisters, is an offense to God," the CBCP added.

The bishops urged the banana growers to "value the dignity of life and the integrity of creation over and above corporate gains and profit targets."

The bishops issued the letter in support to the farmers belonging to the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas), whose representatives are now in Manila asking Malacañang to issue an executive order banning the use of aerial spraying as an agricultural practice.

Maas is composed of farmers, indigenous peoples, youth, fisherfolk and former banana plantation workers who live within and around the plantations of Mindanao that are exposed to aerial spraying.

Invitation

"We would also like to invite the bishops to come over and see how we grow our bananas," Antig said. "In that way, and hopefully, they will not believe what a small group of people tells them hook line and sinker."

PBGEA is the aggrupation of banana companies blocking the clamor to ban aerial spraying. It is composed of the following 18 companies: AMS Group of Companies Inc., Sumifru Philippines, Anflo Group of Companies, Alip River Development and Export Corporation, Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, La Frutera Incorporated, Lapanday Foods Corporation, Hijo Resources Corporation, Diamond Farms Inc., Dizon Group of Companies, Marsman-Drysdale Group of Companies, Nader and Ebrahim Hassan Philippines, Sarangani Agricultural Company Inc., Nova Vista Management and Development Corporation, Dole Stanfilco, Tristar Group of Banana Companies, Aztropex Inc., and Unifrutti Services Inc. (CPM/With BOT)