MANILA CARDINAL, BISHOPS ASK PGMA TO STOP
AERIAL SPRAYING, BUILDING OF LAIBAN DAM

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales and Metro Manila Bishops are asking President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to issue an executive order to ban “permanently  aerial spraying everywhere as soon as possible.” In a letter dated October 29, 2009 and hand-delivered by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Bernardino Cortez to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on November 9, 2009, the bishops said that such action by the president will serve as her “deep expression of motherly care for the future generations” who will be protected from the dangers of incurable diseases and early death that could arise from the practice.

The bishops cited the findings and recommendations of the Department of Health and the Philippine Society of Clinical and Occupational Toxicology and the University of the Philippines-National Poison Management and Control Center.

Aerial spraying is being practiced in particular in the Cavendish banana plantations in Mindanao. The bishops said that the “chemicals sprayed from airplanes used for bananas indiscriminately expose the people and the environment to poison.”

“We are one with all affected people of Mindanao in working for deliverance from this immoral practice of aerial spraying that infringes upon human health and dignity,” the bishops said.

Bishop Cortez handed the letter to Secretary Ermita during the dialogue with Malacanang on Monday (November 9, 2009) organized by the Ecological Desk of the Archdiocese of Manila. Secretary Ermita represented the President. The concern against aerial spraying was raised by the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (MAAS) a group of farmers whose farmlands and houses are neighbors of banana plantations that use aerial spraying in their method of destroying /killing fungus that destroys banana.

Aside from the 12 MAAS farmers, Bishop Cortez and Secretary Ermita, the others in the dialogue were Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Infanta Emeritus Bishop Xavier Labayen,  Atty.Christian Monsod, representatives from NGOs, CBCP-NASSAJPIC, Archdiocese of Manila Ecology Desk, DENR officials led by Secretary Lito Atienza, DOH officials led by Undersecretary Villaverde, and representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Fertilizer & Pesticide Authority

During the dialogue it was agreed that DOH will make a recommendation to President Arroyo to order a ban on Aerial spraying in the light of the results of its own study, while the DENR and DA agreed to support the recommendation.

The dialogue also tackled the  Laiban Dam issue, which Cardinal Rosales and the Metropolitan Bishops also brought to the attention of the president in an earlier letter. For this issue the concerns of the people of Infant represented by Bishop Labayen and of the Diocese of Antipolo, represented by priests of the areas affected, Dumagat leaders were raised.

In the letter dated September 14, 2009, the Cardinal and the bishops called attention to the ill effects the building of the dam purported aimed at generating power and more water supply. It said the project will submerge 28,000 hectares of biodiverse-rich forest eco-system and that the dam will be standing on a seismic fault line with a historical record of 7,6 intensity. The letter further averred that the building the dam will destroy the ecosystems of the towns of General Nakar, Real and Infanta and make Metro Manila open to the danger of flooding, air pollution and intensified global warming and climate change.

Instead of building the dam, the church officials suggested focusing instead on other measures to address the water and environmental problems, such as remedying leakages in water pipes (by the private water companies), declaring the Marikina Watershed Reservation as a protected area under the NIPAS law; expediting reforestation efforts in the Marikina watershed to increase water capacity, provide carbon sink and mitigate the impact of global warming and climate change; and more service-oriented and environmentally sound practices from the MWSS.

The bishops who signed the letter on aerial spraying include, aside from the Cardinal and Bishop Cortez, Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias, Pasig Bishop Francisco San Diego, Parañaque Bishop Jesse Mercado. The letter on the Laiban dam was signed by all the above plus Infanta Bishop Emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen, OCD.##

 Please refer:

Ms. Lou Arsenio
Manila Ecology Desk
0918-9375442
562-3470; 561-9975

Ms. Peachy Yamsuan
Archdiocesan Office of Communications
5273962