In an exclusive interview with Sun.Star Davao, Barangay Manuel Guianga chairman Antipas Batingal said in his lifelong stay in the area, he has not suffered any form of respiratory or skin disease.
"Wala man ta gikagid (We did not get inflicted with skin sores)," the village chieftain said.
Barangay Manuel Guianga is part of the 541-hectare plantation of the Davao Fruits Corporation that extends all the way to Barangay Sirib in Toril District.
Part of the plantation uses aerial spraying to avert the dreaded Sigatoka Disease.
Batingal even asserted that the presence of the banana company in the area has not been detrimental to the people but has instead helped them rise from their status as one of the poorest barangays in the city.
There were instances, according to the Batingal, when they had difficulty procuring funds from the government for their projects. It was the banana company that gave them funds for the implementation of the project.
For his three terms as barangay chief, Batingal said he has not received any complains from his constituents about any complication that might have arisen from aerial spraying.
Moreover, he asserted that a non-governmental organization has approached him and asked him to report on the adverse effects of aerial spraying in his barangay.
"Unsa man ang akong isulti, nga wala man gyud nahitabo nga dili maayo (What am I supposed to say, when there is really nothing adverse to be said)," Batingal added.
Vinzons Elementary School has not had an auditorium since it was constructed, she said, and government has not manifested any intention to give provide them with this facility.
The Davao Fruits Corporation, on the other hand, already handed over a check to the school principal for the construction of the school auditorium.
Even if only a road separates banana plantation from the school premises, Vinzons Elementary School principal Jonathan de los Santos said in his 12 years of teaching in the barangay, neither he nor his students had experienced any skin trouble.
The battle for the constitutionality of the ban on the aerial spray is still ongoing in the regional trial court.
