In a letter addressed to Sun.Star, Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) environment committee member Dr. Anacleto Pedrosa Jr. was reacting to a story title "Strong Odor Downs Studes, Not Fumes" published on Sun.Star Davao on December 1.
The article was about the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (Tadeco) incident last month where more than 60 teachers and students from Tanglaw Elementary School in Braulio Dujali were nauseated due to the strong odor from insecticides used in the Tadeco plantation.
Pedrosa, who is also of AMJR Holding Company Inc., said that "while the article was very informative as to how the incident happened and corrective measures undertaken were clearly specified, the portions connecting the issue outside of the incident seemed to be very speculative and out of context."
He added that such statement is derogatory in his personality as a member of the environment committee of PBGEA and the industry in general thus, the request "not publish any article without verifying its truthfulness and correct the earlier report to clear his name and the group he represents."
However, Pedrosa, in his letter, did not deny the other statement attributed to him in the last paragraph of the same story, saying "buffer zones were never established in any of their plantations in the region."
The alleged non-compliance of banana companies with the 30-meter buffer zone requirement has caused concern to people near banana plantations who complained of aerial drift reaching their homes.
"These buffer zones could have prevented the toxic fumes from reaching the children," Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis) executive director Lia Esquillo.
Esquillo's group have been known to be aerial spray ban advocates and the alleged failure of companies to comply with the mandate have given them one more reason to push for the ban.
