Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Denial to lift injunction writ dismays aerial ban advocates By Grace L. Plata
PRO-aerial spray ban advocates were dismayed over the Court of Appeals (CA) denial of the motion for reconsideration to lift the writ of preliminary injunction filed by the Davao City Government and the aerial spraying affected residents who intervened in the case.
City Council environment committee chair Leonardo Avila III, on the other hand, said this proves a challenge and should strengthen the city's resolve to fight.
"We have to be ready for a long haul. It is a fight for the right of the local government units' (LGUs) right to protect its citizenry and we are ready to go to the Supreme Court for this principle," Avila said Monday.
Acting Mayor Sara Z. Duterte only said the decision of the CA to sustain the injunction is "what they think would be best for the case."
The CA issued an injunction on the implementation of the ordinance in January this year and the City Government and community interveners respectively filed motions for reconsideration.
The Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas), meanwhile, staged their version of Flores de Mayo, a traditional Filipino practice, in front of the CA in Cagayan de Oro Monday morning to show their "exasperation" over the "snail-paced resolution's of the case."
Maas, in a statement, said the decision to deny the motion for reconsideration, signed by the CA justices showed that "justice is almost impossibly delivered to the poor."
Maas spokesperson Dagohoy Magaway said the people of Davao "are both saddened and angered by the decision that obviously did not consider the plight of the people, especially the children, who have been constantly exposed to the harm brought by the poison chemicals used in aerial spraying." (With Press release)
