THE Davao City Government is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to issue an executive order (EO), banning aerial spraying of chemicals nationwide.
Following the Supreme Court's (SC) en banc ruling last August 16 stating that the Davao City Ordinance 0309-07, banning aerial spraying of chemicals as an agricultural practice is unconstitutional, Davao City through its legal office, filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) on Tuesday, October 18.
Lawyer Enrique J.A. Bonocan of the City Legal Office told reporters on Friday, October 21, at the City Hall Office that the High Court's ruling is not "a total defeat for every stakeholders pushing for the ban."
It can be recalled that the SC affirmed the Court of Appeals decision, on the grounds of violating the 1987 Philippine Constitution's "equal protection clause "due process clause" for being oppressive to banana growers; and performing an "ultra vires" act or beyond one's legal authority as the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) of the Department of Agriculture has the sole jurisdiction on this matter.
"The SC's decision, specifically on the ‘ultra vires’ act is viewed as an advantage. If FPA has the only authority, and taking into account that it is under DA, which belongs to the executive department, then we are lobbying to the Office of the President for an issuance of EO to be implemented by DA through FPA," he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte was the city's mayor when the anti-aerial spraying ordinance was passed.
Bonocan said the EO "could be the speediest remedy to address and end the long-contested aerial spraying issue."
Bonocan also noted that the City Council also enacted, right after the aerial spraying ordinance, the Watershed Code of Davao City, which also prohibits the conduct of aerial spraying in all environmentally critical areas.
In the article 9 of the code states the practice is prohibited "to ensure the health and sustainability of the Watershed areas."
Environmentalists in Davao, meanwhile, lauded the City Government's move.
"This is such good news for us. The city's move reflects its strong support in upholding environmental protection and shows how the city supports the campaign," Mary Ann Fuertes, Interface Development Interventions, Inc. said in a phone interview with SunStar Davao on Friday, October 21.
She added they are also filing their own MR before the SC, on or before October 26.
Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association executive director, Stephen Antig, for his part, said the filing of MR is a prerogative of the city.
"We are hoping that they will put this issue to rest and focus on agricultural development being one of the agenda of President Duterte. We cannot really understand why they are so hang up on aerial spraying but then the filing of MR is their prerogative. God bless Mindanao," Antig said in a text message sent to SunStar Davao on Friday.
Antig said earlier that the action should be "focused on employment and development of Mindanao instead of attacking the practice of an industry that has contributed a lot to the economy of Mindanao and will continue to do so".
In 2015, a total of 95 local and international civil society organizations (CSOs) and institutions petitioned the FPA to ban the aerial spraying in banana plantations in the Philippines.
In a position paper drafted by the CSO and Interface Development Interventions, the group highlighted the dangers of using aerial spraying as a method to apply fungicide because it contaminates nearby communities and water resources indiscriminately.
It said the communities adjacent or inside banana plantations, incidents of animals and plants dying due to hazardous chemical exposure have been reported. This is because the chemicals used in aerial spraying, when released, are airborne and spread randomly, reaching areas which do not even have banana crops.
But these claims have been contested by the banana players here as no concrete names and data of affected areas and individuals were presented by the environmentalists. (With reports from KVC)