For those who wish to send their statements to the Court of Appeals in support of the ban aerial spraying ordinance, please be informed that the correct fax number of the Court of Appeals Office in Cagayan de Oro is (08822) 72-82-32.

Our apologies for the inconvenience that we may have caused.

Sincerely,
Mavic Hilario

Dear Friends,

As we all know, the Court of Appeals issued a 60-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the implementation of the ban aerial spraying ordinance in Davao City. Thus, after only a two-month respite, the communities have to endure the toxic shower once more!

The City Legal Office (counsel for City Government) and Saligan Mindanao (counsel for respondent-intervenors) will file a motion to lift the TRO.

MAAS member communities and support groups met yesterday and came up with the following activities to protest the issuance of the TRO, call for its lifting and to uphold the constitutionality of the ordinance.

We appeal for your support to these activities as MAAS continues to struggle on this fight despite limited resources.

Activities:

1. Fax or letter brigade to Branch 22 Judges

Write & send your statements/letters of support/drawings/poem to the Court of Appeals 22nd Division Judges. We want to barrage the CA with fax messages or letters from affected communities, individuals, support groups calling for the lifting of the TRO and upholding the validity of the ordinance. Please refer to the sample letters below! Do feel free to change the letters as you wish.

We are targeting at least 100 fax messages and at least 300 letters per week, reaching the CA.

Your fax messages may be sent to:

Court of Appeals – Mindanao
Cagayan de Oro City
Telefax # : (08822) 72-82-32, as corrected

Attention: 22nd Division
Judge Mario V. Lopez
Judge Romulo V. Borja
Judge Elihu Ybañez

Letters may also be sent through mail to:

Court of Appeals – Mindanao
Cagayan de Oro City

2. Creative Protest : Wish ko Lang sa Pasko, Wala nang Ulang Makahilo

MAAS and its support group will hold a Christmas caroling at the Court of Appeals office on December 12, 2007 to appeal for the lifting of the TRO as a Christmas gift from the CA.

The aerial spraying communities, instead of being down hearted by the TRO decision is all the more firm and committed to see this through, for they have experienced what it’s like to be free from the toxic shower!

We look forward to your participation on the campaign activities!

Warm regards to all,
Lia (09189170902) and Mavic (09209549137) of IDIS

Issue 1: The chemicals sprayed is inherently poison. Pesticides are designed to kill. Even if registered by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, they still have ill effects on non-target organisms. Women and children are especially vulnerable to effects of pesticides.

Issue 2: Aerial spraying increases the spray drift. Predictable percentage of spray drift can reach to 3.2 km from the treatment site (USEPA). A study in Central Washington says ir can reach 80 km in hilly terrain under windy conditions. Aerial Spraying contaminates open/exposed bodies of water (rivers, wetlands, and springs) where people get drinking water! It contaminates the roofs of houses where people usually collect rainwater for domestic use! So, it sure contaminates people, animals, other crops.

Issue 3: Poor regulation on aerial spraying; lack of enforcement; lack of monitoring. Vegetative buffer zones required near schools, rivers, public roads, and houses, is not complied with by banana companies. It is amazing that the proposed buffer zone by different concerned organizations, which is less than 1 mile around drinking water, cannot be complied with. In Alaska, the current required buffers to protect drinking water sources is 66 meters.

Regulations for aerial spraying are not regularly monitored by Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority because of lack of personnel and budget……….which means there is a lack of environmental health monitoring in the country.

Affected residents and civil society groups waged an intensive and phenomenal nine (9) month campaign to stop the practice of banana plantations of dispensing pesticide through an airplane.

Aerial spraying exposes more people and the environment to the toxic effects of pesticide since the spray drift reaches as far as 3.2 kilometers.

Spearheaded by Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying or MAAS, the campaign successfully educated and involved the local communities and various sectors of society – academe, church, media, professionals and local government – and culminated in the passage of the ordinance last February 9, 2007.

The campaign pitted small communities against big, moneyed corporations and showed in the end that in spite of intensive lobby of vested interest groups, with community assertion of their rights coupled with effective advocacy and lobby strategies, local governments can be made to decide for the public welfare.

The plantation companies under the umbrella of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association however, in their greed, refuse to accept the will of Davao City and continue to resist the ordinance. The validity and constitutionality of the ordinance is being challenged as PBGEA, Lapanday Development Company (LADECO) and Davao Fruits Corporation (DFC) filed a case against the City Government to stop the implementation of the ordinance.

Members of PBGEA include AMS Group of Companies, Inc, Sumifru Philippines, ANFLO Group of Companies, Alip River Development and Export Corporation, Del Monte Fresh Produce Philippines, La Frutera Incorporated, Lapanday Foods Corporation, Hijo Resources Corporation, Diamond Farms Inc, Dizon Group of Companies, Marsman-Drysdale Group of Companies, Nader and Ebrahim Hassan Philippines, Saranggani Agricultural Company Inc, Nova Vista Management and Development Corporation, Dole Stanfilco and Tristar Group of Banana Companies.

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