Republic of the Philippines. x
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ECEIVED
Constitution Hills, Quezon City re O6 FEB 2014_

‘SIXTEENTH CONGRESS,
First Regular Session

HOUSEBILLNO, 385'7

Introduced by:

Gabriela Women’s Party Reps. LUZVIMINDA C. LAGAN AND EMMI A. DE JESUS,
BAYAN Muna Reps. NERI J, COLMENARES and CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE, ACT Teachers’ Partylist
Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO, Anakpawis Partylist Rep. FERNANDO HICAP,
and Kabataan Partylist Rep. JAMES TERRY L. RIDON

EXPLANATORY NOTE

For more than a decade now, the people living near banana plantations in Mindanao are seeking the
prohibition of aerial spraying. And they have compelling reasons for thelr crusade: aerial spraying is disrupting their
lives, contaminating their environment and injurious to their health.

Section 15, Article II of the Philippine Constitution provides that, 'The State shall protect and promote the
right to health of the people and instil health consciousness among them

Furthermore, Section 16 of the same Article provides that, ‘The State shall protect and advance the right of
the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature!

On the strength of the above-quoted provisions of the 1987 Constitution and in response to the demands of
the people in Mindanao, this bill seeks to prohibit aerial spraying and is hereby refilled’

Aerial spraying is @ nuisance. In a study made by the Peasant Education Studies Center in 20072, the
accounts of the people in Davao del Sur on how aerial spraying had affected their ves evoked scenes shades of
Hitler’ blitzkrieg over London during World War Il. In an apt description of their plight, local folks have come to call
‘aerial spraying’ as ‘aerial bombardment.

Once they hear the sound of an approaching airplane (which often happens without any early warning),
people would run to whatever ‘air raid shelters’ they could find, be it their homes, chapel, or empty bodegas. Or they
would seek cover under some thick canopy of trees which does not protect them at all. Once inside any enclosure,
they would close its doors and windows, thereby risking suffocation, just to shut off the nauseous odor that would

‘This bill was first filed in the 15% Congress and denominated as House Bill 5249,
2 Peasant Education and Studies Center, ‘A Social Investigation on CARP. Implementation in TNC Lands in Mindanao’, PESC:
Quezon City (unpublished)



engulf their whole immediate environment. Normally, they would remain in the enclosure several hours after the
spraying was done because it would leave behind a foul odor that lasted for days. The moment they ventured out,
they would find their washed clothes in the clothestine soiled with black spots (Ike the color of ‘alkitran’ that they had
to wash them again, Those who happened to be away from home during the altack would also find their left-over,
food discolored that they had to throw them away. In addition, the nausea that aerial spraying inflicts would leave the
affected people losing their appetite for two to three days. On these counts alone, aerial spraying is truly a perwisyo!
a nuisance that rightly deserved to be abated by the state using its police power.

Aerial spraying is not only a nuisance, It is also injurious to the health of the people living near banana
plantations. A 2006 study made by the Department of Health showed that people living in Hagonoy, Davao del Sur?
showed high levels of ethylenethiourea (ETU) in their blood samples.‘ ETU and chlorothalonil were also found in high
levels in the soil and air of the village and, because of chemical drift, even in nearby areas. ETU is a breakdown
product of Mancozeb, a fungicide widely used by large-scale banana growers but has been classified as carcinogenic
by the State of Califomia and the Swedish pesticide regulatory authority. Ithas been documented to have produced
‘folicular and palilary’ thyroid cancer in rats and ‘hepatocellular’ cancer in mice, The study also found that 52% of the
village residents who reported to have been exposed to aerial spraying showed post-exposure symptoms like eye-
redness, eye pain, eye tearing, eye and skin itchiness, headache, and spells of vomiting and dizzinessé

Aerial spraying also affects the vegetation and animal life in the vicinity of banana plantations, Residents
would report that the soil in their vilages had exhibited diminished fertility and plant growth in their backyard and
farms had been seriously stunted. They now find it difficult to grow food crops. People also find it harder to raise pigs
and chickens as they just die out. They also believe that their natural sources of water have been contaminated
because a lot of the animals refused to drink from streams and springs and those that do eventually die,

Since the pesticides are released into the air, the method has absolutely no means of controlling chemical
drift or of ensuring that the harmful chemicals would hit only their target areas. The air-bome harmful chemicals are
usually swept by the winds, dispersing them over wide areas that include residential centers, schools, farms, rivers,
lakes and other water systems. It is in this way that aerial spraying affects not just banana plantations but defies
whole eco-systems,

Chemicals from pesticides and similar harmful substances accumulate through the years. In the absence of
deep-going study on the geo-ecological effects of chemical accumulation from pesticides released into the
environment, itis the better part of government discretion to exercise precaution since the long-term implications on
communities and environment long exposed to aerial spraying are imponderable.

The Philippine Banana Growers and Explorers Association had challenged the people's demand for
prohibition on grounds of property rights and that aerial spraying is ‘the best practice’ in applying pesticides. They
further contended that prohibiting aerial spraying would kil the banana industry. Such contentions are fallacious,
narrow and self-serving which cannot defeat the constitutionaly-guaranteed primordial rights of our people to health

9 Hagonoy, Davao del Sur hosts several banana plantations, the biggest of which is Guihing Agricultural Development
Corporation, a subsidiary of the Lapanday Group of Companies.

4 Department of Health, ‘A Health and Environmental Assessment in Sitio Camocaan, Davao del Sur, DoH: Davao City, 2006.

5 Mancozeb Factsheet, Environmental Commons (http://environmentalcommons,org/cetos/criticalhabital/mancozeb. pdf)
Department of Health, ibid.

Page | 2


and sound environment. The property rights of banana planters end where the health of the people and whole
communities begins; the profits of a few cannot be above the welfare of the many. A method which has proved to be
a nuisance and is deleterious to health and environment cannot, by any measure, be considered as a ‘best practice’

‘As sure as the sun sets in the west, the prohibition of aerial spraying will not kill the banana industry. In
provinces’ where aerial spraying has been banned, the industry is thriving and expanding. In fact, among the banana
firms which have vigorously expanded into these ‘no aerial spraying provinces’ are the same banana firms which are
challenging the people's clamor for prohibition. To postulate that people must suffer aerial spraying because itis the
‘best practice’ of an industry that is bringing in export dollars to the country is to grossly misplace our priorities,

Given all the premises, itis but fitting and proper for the state to intervene into this social bane in behalf of
the people and for this bill to be urgently passed into law.

IVINDA C. LAGAN
Gabriela Women's Party

Wi els
EMMI A, DE JESUS
Gabriela Women's Party

Vers beed ANTONIO L. TINIO

eG

QLMENARES.

BAYAN Muna ACT Teachers’ Partylist
Fi -RNANDO HICAI TERRY JAMES L. RIDON
Anakpawis Kabataan Partylist

7 Among the provinces and cities where aerial spraying is banned are South Cotabato, Bukidron and Davao City

Page | 3


Republic ofthe Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOOK BILL No, 3857

Introduced by:

Gabriela Women's Partylist Reps. LUZVIMINDA C. ILAGAN and EMMI A. DE JESUS, BAYAN Muna Reps. NERI J.
COLMENARES and CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE, ACT Teachers’ Partylist Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO, Anakpawis
Partylist Rep. FERNANDO HICAP, and Kabataan Partylist Rep. TERRY JAMES L. RIDON

AN ACT PROHIBITING AERIAL SPRAYING
‘AS AMETHOD OF APPLYING CHEMICALS AND SIMILAR SUBSTANCES ON AGRICULTURAL CROPS

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

Section 1. Titl. - This Act shall be known as the ‘Aerial Spraying Prohibition Act of 2014

Section 2, Declaration of State Principles and Policies - The State recognizes that, as an agricultural method of
applying chemicals and similar substances, aerial spraying is vexatious to the peace of communities, detrimental to
the health and well-being of the people, and destructive of the flora and fauna and the environment.

Itis hereby declared the policy of the State to promote the welfare of the people, including the succeeding
generations, by protecting their well-being, health and environment from any agricultural activity, practice or method
that will lead to the exposure of any person and the environment to hazardous chemioals, substanoes and similar
materials

Section 3. Definition of terms ~ For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be understood as follows,

‘a. Aerial spraying refers to the application of chemicals, substances, or similar materials on crops by releasing
them into the air from an aircraft

b. Agricultural practices refer to the practices that any person, natural or juridical, may conduct in relation to his
agricultural activities,

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©. Agricultural activities refer to activities involved in the process of agricultural production, be it small, medium,
or large scale,

d. Hazardous chemicals refer to any substance or product, or mixture intended to control, destroy, repel,
ormitigate directly or indirectly, any pest. The term shall be understood to include insecticide, fungicide,
bactericide, nematocide, herbicide, mulloscicide, avivide, rodenticide, plant regulator, defoliant, dessicant, and
the like; same as hazardous substances or hazardous materials,

e, Buffer zone refers to an identified 50-meter zone within and around the boundaries of agricultural
farms/plantations that need special monitoring to avoid o minimize harm to the environment and inhabitants from
the use of hazardous chemicals and substances. It is an area of land that must lie within the property which
does not include public lands, public thoroughfares or adjacent private properties. It must be planted with
diversified trees that grow taller than what are usually planted and grown in the plantation to protect those within
the adjacent fields, neighboring farms, residential area, schools and workplaces.

{, Global Positioning System survey refers to a survey plan to be made with the aid of Global Positioning
‘System showing the metes and bounds of each agricultural farm/plantation that shall be submitted to the Office
of the Mayor of the municipality/city which has jurisdiction over concerned agricultural farms/plantations,

Section 4. Prohibition of aerial spraying - The act of aerial spraying is hereby declared contrary to law and
prohibited.

Section 5, Monitoring and enforcing agency ~ The Office of the Provincial Governor of each province or the Office of
the City Mayor of each highly urbanized or chartered city shall be the principal enforcement agency for monitoring
and ensuring compliance of this Act and for apprehending violators thereof. The Provincial Governor or the City
Mayor shall form municipaltylcity-based monitoring teams from among farmers/farmworkers organizations,
environment protection advocates, civil society, church people, and youth organizations. The municipalicty mayor,
municipality agricuturist, municipalcty health officer, community environmental officer, and the municipallity chief
of police shall be automatic members of the monitoring team.

The municipaitylcity-based monitoring teams shall have inspectoril powers with respect to compliance of providing
buffer zones as mentioned in Section 8.

Section 6, Deputization of monitoring teams to make arrests and confiscate ~ The monitoring teams are hereby
deputized to make citizen's arrest of persons who violate Section 4 and to confiscate the instruments of the violation.

Section 7. Aircraft inventory - To help the enforcing agency in monitoring and ensuring compliance of this Act, all
persons, natural or juridical, who have practiced aerial spraying or have been engaged in the business of providing
aerial spraying services before the enactment ofthis Act, shall be required to submit to the Office of the Provincial
Governor or the City Mayor, as the case maybe, an inventory ofthe aircrafts they used in aerial spraying. The aircraft
shall indicate therein a brief distinctive description of the airoraft, engine manufacturer's identification number,
company logo, and location of the hangar and other relevant information for the facile identification of the aircraft
when airbome.

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Section 8, Corporate violators — If the violator of this Act is a corporation, partnership or any other juridical entity, the
penal provisions hereof shall be applied to the president or chief executive officer of the corporation, the managing
partner in the case of partnership, or the equivalent head in the case of any other juridical entity or any other person
acting in their behalf In the case of corporations, the indictment shall include the manager of the department directly
responsible for aerial spraying and similar operations,

Section 9, Provision of buffer zones — All persons, natural or juridical, who are engaged in agricultural crop
production of fifty (50) hectares and above and which makes use of hazardous chemicals, substances. or similar
materials to improve productivity, shall provide for a thirty (30) meter buffer zone starting within the boundaries of
their agricultural farms/plantations, This buffer zone must be properly delineated through Global Positioning System
survey.

Ifthe agricultural crop production has an operation scale of three hundred (300) hectares and above, the buffer zone
shall be fit (60) meters.

Section 10, Grace period for compliance of buffer zones ~ After the effectivity ofthis Act, there shall be a period of
‘one (1) year within which the persons mentioned in Section 8 shall comply the requirement of providing buffer zones
in their agricultural farms/plantations.

Section 11. Penal provisions - Any person found to be violating the provisions of this Act shall be penalized as
follows:

1, On violation of Section 4 hereof:

a. First Offense: Fine of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000) and imprisonment of not less than three (3)
‘months but not more than six (6) months;

b. Second Offense: Fine of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000) and imprisonment of not less than
six (6) months but not more than one (1) year and suspension of business permit and license for one
(1) year, and

. Third Offense: Fine of One Hundred fifty Thousand Pesos (P150,000) and imprisonment of not less
than one (1) year but not more than one (1) year and six (6) months and perpetual cancellation of
business permit and license.

In the case of the pilot of the aircraft, the punishment for third violation shall include the cancellation of his
pilots license.

2. On Violation of Section 8 hereof:
a. Afine of Fifty Thousand Pesos (PS0,000).
Section 12. Implementing Rules and Regulations - Within fifteen (150 days after the effectivity of this Act, the
Department of Interior and Local Government, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Department of

Health and Department of Environment and natural Resources, and the Bureau of Rural Workers, shall issue the
Implementing Rules and Regulations of this Act.

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Section 13. Separability clause - If any part or provision of this Act is declared void or unconstitutional, the
remaining provisions thereof shall remain in full force and effect,

Section 14, Repealing clause - All other laws, decrees, rules and regulations, orders, and issuances inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Page | 7

Section 14, Effectivity clause - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official
Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation,