Monday, April 24, 2006
Expert: Synthetic chemicals next cause of destruction
By Jeffrey M. Tupas
THE use of pesticides and other deadly chemicals could be the second worst cause of mass destruction next to nuclear explosions, according to one of the country's prominent toxicologists.
Dr. Romeo Quijano, president of the Pesticide Action Network-Philippines, issued this warning as the global community of environmentalists celebrated Earth Day last Saturday.
An anti-aerial spraying campaign called "Stop the Toxic Shower!" was also launched locally by the environmental non-government organization Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis) and the Panaghoy sa Kinaiyahan-Coalition for Mother Earth (Panaghoy) against the spraying method practiced by banana plantations to fight fungus that attacks bananas.
"I have seen how people's lives were destroyed by synthetic chemicals. Women with thyroid cancers, men with prostate cancers, children with deformities and other abnormalities because of synthetic chemicals," said Quijano who is also a professor at the University of the Philippines-College of Medicine.
"Imagine a community with many children with cleft lips and palates and severe skin diseases. There were also reports of deaths -- the truth is that pesticides and other synthetic chemicals are poison no matter how the manufacturers and even the government tell us that they are not harmful to human," Quijano added.
Deaths in plantations
Councilor Nenen Orcullo said there were also reports about deaths in many areas where banana and pineapple plantations are located. In her own village in Mandug, Tigato District, Orcullo said, a child was killed after eating a Cavendish banana.
"There were many incidents that were kept secret like this. I know that the synthetic chemicals used by these companies are indeed deadly to people and harmful to the environment. I am aware that we are against giant capitalists and the struggle is a little difficult," said Orcullo who authored in 2004 the ordinance seeking to ban the aerial spraying practice in Davao City.
In 1997, Quijano led a study on the impact of the pesticides used by the Lorenzo-owned Lapanday Development Corporation (Ladeco) on the village of Kamukhaan in Digos, Davao del Sur. The group found out that at least 700 individuals (or 150 families), a number of them children, were allegedly poisoned by the chemicals used Ladeco in their ground and aerial spraying practices.
Among the synthetic chemicals used by the company in their operations were Paraquat, Maneb, Macozeb, Carbofuran, Glyphosate and Diazinon. These synthetic chemicals, Quijano said, were already banned, if not restricted, by other countries.
Mancozeb, for instance, has been identified by California as carcinogenic or cancer causing.
Carbofuran, also known as Furadan, has been banned in New Zealand, Finland and Libya and severely restricted many countries like Canada and the United States and listed as potential endocrine disruptor by the German federal Agency.
Human rights violation
Airing his support to the growing demand to totally ban aerial spraying in the city, Quijano said the people should demand from the government their basic right to health as mandated by the constitution and the international humanitarian law.
"By not doing anything regarding this issue, the government is also violating the constitution which tells that the state must protect the people's health -- we could then say that there is a blatant violation of our rights as human," he said.
"The people have the right against chemical intrusion. The companies do not have the right to invade us if we don't want aerial spraying the government should listen to us because this is what we want. It should be the interest of the general public that should be given more weight," Quijano added. (JMT)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (April 24, 2006 issue)
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