FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

2803

House Bill No.,

EXPLANATORY NOTE

After the farmers in Cagayan de Oro City have stormed the premises of the
Court of Appeals pressing for the banning of aerial pesticide spraying in Davao,
they decided to set up camp outside the CA to pressure the justices to

immediately resolve the pending preliminary injunction case on the aerial spray
ban.

The banana industry says the fungicide it commonly uses, Dithane, is
classified in the least hazardous category by the Philippine Fertiliser and Pesticide
Authority, but studies done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say it
contains cancer-causing elements. A survey conducted in affected areas like Sirib
by Kalusugan Alang sa Bayan (Health for the People) Inc. shows elevated levels
of cancer, birth defects, cerebral palsy and asthma. Fever, vomiting and skin
rashes have also occurred after exposure, with 62 percent of those interviewed
saying they have received an actual ‘pesticide shower’ during aerial fumigation.
Banana fields are discontinuous and patchy, and the crop-dusting planes failed to
abide by the 50 m buffer zone allocated to inhabited areas and water sources as
specified in the environmental compliance certificates issued to the companies.

Once a week, the drone of airplanes shatters the early morning calm in
Calinan, a cluster of small farmlands in the hilly terrain around Mount Apo. It is the
signal for farmers to rush indoors or take cover and stop feeding livestock, for
women to pull down clothes hanging out to dry, and for everyone to stay indoors,
windows shuttered.

The small fixed-wing planes, known as crop dusters, are owned by the
huge banana plantations nearby, spraying fungicide—a kind of pesticide that
destroys fungus—on the banana plants. Residents say anyone caught outdoors
during an aerial spray is likely to experience skin itching, eye irritation and nausea.


Water exposed to fungicide tums milky white, and vegetables like malunggay curl
up or retain a sticky residue

Because of their rapid expansion, Davao’s big banana plantations are
encroaching into the city’s built-up areas and farmlands like Calinan, where small
farmers grow crops and fruits such as durian and lanzones that are sold in Davao
City markets. Communities around these plantations have been complaining of
health problems every time toxic pesticides would drift their way.

Aerial spraying is done on 1,800 hectares, about one-third the total area of
banana plantations in Davao City, said a fact-finding report headed by City
Planning and Development coordinator Mario Luis Jacinto. Pilots guided by Global
Positioning System devices spray 30 liters of solution per hectare using automated
nozzles.

Although the Philippines has no specific law on aerial spraying, government
regulations require pilots to observe buffer zones “20 to 30 meters away" from
plantations, according to regional officer Estrella Laquinta of the Fertilizer and
Pesticide Authority. The rule is meant to spare humans, animals and plants from
the ill effects of the spraying. But it is a rule only on paper.

Several health studies in recent years have shown abnormally high rates of
cancer, anemia and skin ailments among residents living beside banana
plantations. In a 2006 study, the Kalusugan Alang sa Bayan health group
documented nine patients who had died of cancer in a plantation site in Davao
City. Seven of them had been working for a long time in the plantation, up to 29
years in one case.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill seeking to ban aerial
pesticide spraying in the country is earnestly sought.

RUFU$ B. RO! UEZ

Yd

MAXIMO B. RODRIGUEZ, JR.


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez and
Representative Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.

03

House Bill No.

AN ACT
BANNING AERIAL PESTICIDE SPRAYING IN THE COUNTRY

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy.- \t is the policy of the State to protect
the health of the people as well as the environment from toxic chemicals.

SECTION 2. Total Ban on Aerial Pesticide Spraying. Aerial pesticide
spraying in the country is totally prohibited.

SECTION 3. Penalty. Any person who would violate this Act shall suffer
the penalty of prision correccional and a fine of Three Hundred Thousand Pesos
(P300,000.00). If the violation is committed by a corporation or association, the
corporation or association shall be fined by One Million Pesos (P1,000,000.00)
while the president and the manager/s of said corporation or association, and
other officers and employees responsible for the violation, or its agent or
representative in the Philippines, in case of a foreign corporation or association,
shall also be held liable and shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional and a
fine of Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (P300,000.00) each .

SECTION 4. Rules and Regulations. — The Fertilizer and Pesticide
Authority shall promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective enforcement
of the provisions of this Act and shall cause the same to be published within fifteen
days from promulgation, in three newspapers of general circulation in the
Philippines and shall take effect as such, fifteen days after their publication.

SECTION 5. Separability Clause. — The provisions of this Act are hereby
declared to be separable, and in the event any part, section or provision of this Act


is held invalid or unconstitutional, no other part, section or provision thereof shall
be affected thereby

SECTION 6. Repealing Clause. — All laws, parts of laws, executive
orders, ordinances, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 7. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days

following the completion of its publication in the Official Gazette or in a national
newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved.