SC voids Davao City ban on aerial spraying in banana plantations

The Supreme Court (SC) struck down the Davao City ordinance banning aerial spraying in banana plantations, a measure passed during the term of then mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte.

Affirming the decision of the Court of Appeals, the high court on Tuesday said Davao City Ordinance no. 0309-07, series of 2007, which banned indiscriminate aerial spraying of chemicals as an agricultural practice in the city, is unconstitutional.

Section 5 bans aerial spraying in Davao City three months after the ordinance took effect on March 23, 2007, prompting the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association Inc. to bring the issue to court. 

In its decision, the SC said the ordinance violated the equal protection clause in the Constitution since it prohibited aerial spraying regardless of the substance or the level of concentration of the chemicals to be applied and imposed the 30-meter buffer zone in all agricultural lands in Davao City regardless of the size of landholdings.

The ordinance was also found to have violated the due process rights of banana growers.

According to the Court, three months will be an inadequate time to shift from aerial to truck-mounted boom spraying as this effectively deprives them of efficient means to combat disease.

Lastly, the SC said the Davao City government had no authority to regulate and control pesticides and other agricultural chemicals, which is lodged with the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority.

"In enacting the ordinance without the inherent and explicit authority to do so, the City performed an ultra vires act (Latin for beyond one's legal authority). Moreover, the ordinance purported to prohibit an activity already covered by the jurisdiction of the FPA which has issued its own regulations under Memorandum Circular No. 02 (S. 2009)," the SC said.

The case reached the high court after some Davao City residents led by Wilfredo Mosqueda petitioned for the reversal of the 2009 ruling of the CA 22nd Division, which set aside a regional trial court decision favoring the ordinance. — VVP, GMA News