Cagayan de Oro Court of Appeals ‘mobsters’ back in Davao City

Anti-aerial spray group step up campaign

By ROGER M. BALANZA

After being threatened with arrest by the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City environmentalist groups are bringing back to the city their battle against aerial spraying in banana plantations.

The Mamayang Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying (Maas) and Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) are holding today a forum on the dangers to health of aerial spraying at the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City, after last week’s warning of arrest by a CA justice.

Maas and Idis had frontlined lobby for passage of a Davao City ordinance banning aerial spraying, which is now subject of appeal by the banana industry before the CA in Cagayan de Oro City.

The environmentalist groups have been pressing CA for early decision on the ban stopped by CA with a restraining order.

Last week, Maas and Idis elements held a rally at the CA and barricaded the courts’ doors before chaining several of their members to the steel gates.

The    rowdy behavior was a repeat of last January’s when Idis and Maas gifted the appeals justices with rotten bananas after CA issued a temporary restraining order against the ordinance.

In the Monday incident, Associate Justice Elihu stopped his session amidst the disturbance and met the protesters to warn of arrest, and ordered court security personnel to bodily carry the militants away from the court premises when advised rallies could only be held 50 meters away from the court building.

The Cagayan de Oro incident involving the militants recalls the time when a Davao City court was hearing a petition to declare illegal the city ordinance, that the banana industry said would kill the city’s export Cavendish banana industry that is employing 20,000 workers and earns export earnings for the city. Aerial spraying, declared by the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, the Department of Health and the City Planning Office of the Davao City government as harmless, is widely used in banana plantations to fight off the deadly Sigatoka leaf disease. Maas and Idis said the practice threatened people’s health but could not present evidence before the court. Despite this, the Davao City court declared the ordinance as constitutional.

While the Davao City regional trial court was hearing the case, Idis and Maas mobilized rallyist at the court with large streamers and fiery speeches.

At the height of discussion by the Davao City Council on the proposed ordinance, the militant groups distributed a pastoral letter signed by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla purportedly supporting the aerial spray ban ordinance. Capalla would later say his signature was forged and clarified that the Catholic Church is not taking a position on the issue.