Davao City starts phaseout of aerial spray

After outlawing aerial spraying, the Davao City government has started phasing out aerial sprays in banana plantations. Sun-Star Davao (www.sunstar.com.ph) reported Sunday that the city government expects the plantations to fully revert to boom-ground-spraying by June 22. Davao City Councilor Leonardo Avila III said the implementation of the 30-meter buffer zones must have also started and met on the same deadline. Avila, chairman of the committee on environment and natural resources, said affected plantations are planning to file a legal action on the matter and ask for an extension to the phase-out period to five years. “It is their right to exhaust all legal means but the fact that they are not anymore against to the ban is something positive," he said. He added that since no petition has reached his office, the three-month phase-out period will go on as planned. The starting day of the phaseout period also coincided with World Water Day. Avila said such is significant as water contamination has been one of the grounds considered for ban. But banana plantation companies are still not ready for the city’s aerial spraying ban ordinance, even as the three-month countdown for its implementation started Friday. The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) admitted that the banana industry will still not be able to comply with the aerial spray ban law of the city, insisting that the three-month phase is too short. PBGEA is considering all options in their quest to find a better deal for themselves although they are trying to avoid legal battles. City residents have pushed for the banning of aerial spray as an agricultural practice as there are studies that show that it poses threat on people’s health.-GMANews.TV