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Bishops on aerial spraying: Immoral |
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Jeffery M. Tupas, Philippine Daily Inquirer
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Thursday, 05 November 2009 |
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DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Immoral.
This was how four of the highest ranking leaders of the Catholic Church described aerial spraying in banana plantations in a letter demanding a stop to the practice.
The letter, addressed to the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), said aside from being immoral, aerial spraying “infringes upon human health and dignity.”
“We are one with all affected people in Mindanao in working for their deliverance from this immoral practice,” said the letter, signed by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, Auxiliary Manila Bishops Broderick Pabillo and Bernardino Cortez and Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Yñiguez.
“We cannot allow their suffering to go any longer.”
“We appeal to the goodness and wisdom of your hearts to value the dignity of life and the integrity of creation over and above corporate gains and profit targets,” said the letter addressed to Stephen Antig, PBGEA executive director.
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Banana growers urged to stop aerial spray |
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Ben O. Tesiorna, Sunstar Davao
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
CATHOLIC bishops appealed to banana growers in Mindanao to stop using aerial spray in their operation, calling it an "immoral practice that infringes upon human health and dignity."
In a letter to Stephen Antig, executive director of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA), Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Rosales, Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Bishop Bernardino Cortez, and Bishop Broderick Pabillo said that for many years now, families living in the surroundings of banana plantations have been complaining of getting sick, their crops dying and water resources contaminated because of aerial spraying.
The chemicals sprayed from the airplanes that you use for your bananas indiscriminately expose the people and the environment to poison. International and local studies point to the hazards of aerial spraying of pesticides on humans and the ecosystems, the bishops said.
"We are one with all affected people in Mindanao in working for their deliverance from this immoral practice of aerial spraying that infringes upon human health and dignity. We cannot allow their suffering to go on any longer for anything that offends people, especially the least of our brothers and sisters, is an offense to God," the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.
The bishops urged the banana growers to "value the dignity of life and the integrity of creation over and above corporate gains and profit targets."
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RP Church seeks Japan, Iran bishops help in aerial spray battle |
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Roy Lagarde, CBCP News
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Friday, 30 October 2009 |
MANILA, Oct. 30, 2009— Bishops from the Philippines are seeking assistance from their fellow prelates in Japan and Iran in their battle against aerial spraying in banana plantations in Mindanao.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said they are bringing up the matter to the church leaders there where the banana products are being exported from Davao province.
He said they are planning to write a letter to the bishops in Japan and Iran to bring to their attention the negative impact of aerial spraying to the health of the people in Mindanao.
“This is just to inform them that the fruits being exported to them used aerial spraying to the detriment of the people,” Bp Pabillo said.
Bp Pabillo chairs the Episcopal Commission on Social Action – Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
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Tribal leaders oppose aerial spray; but local officials support it |
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Jose G. Dalumpines, Mindanao Times
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Wednesday, 28 October 2009 |
DAVAO CITY - TRIBAL LEADERS based in Kapalong, Davao del Norte urged Malacañang to act on their plea to stop the aerial spraying on banana plantations.
Chieftains from the Ata, Dibabawon, Mandaya, Manguangan and Mansaka tribes of Davao del Norte took part in the national day of protest against aerial spraying yesterday in the city.
Local officials of the town of Sto. Tomas and Talaingod, however, supported the farm practice saying that communities near the banana farms have never reported any illnesses caused by it. Sto. Tomas Mayor Maximo Estela said that of the 50,000 hectares of agricultural area in the municipality, about 10,000 of them are planted with bananas.
In Talaingod, Vice Mayor Alex Sibogan said that just like Sto. Tomas, no one among the residents reported any illnesses brought about by aerial spraying as banana farms have started sprouting in the municipality three years ago.
In a press briefing conducted at the Lispher Inn here, the IP leaders claimed that since the start of aerial spraying in the plantations, they observed a rising number of cases of illnesses in their communities.
They said their apprehension was confirmed when a medical mission of South Korean doctors revealed that 70 percent of those treated were showing signs of exposure to chemicals.
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