Pesticides dumped in Benguet farms, waters

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

As early as the late 90s, pesticide and chemical fertilizer use has been underscored by no less than a medical practitioner whose hospital in Baguio has always welcomed patients from the agricultural towns in Benguet and Mountain Province. Through his patients and after being alarmed by the rising number of farmers getting sick with cancer, Dr. Charles Cheng launched a research on the effects of pesticides on farmers in Benguet.

The research work confirmed that there was indeed a connection between the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and cancer. Physical and mental abnormalities in a person that manifested between birth and adulthood were also blamed on pesticide use. This, in addition to skin diseases, allergy, asthma, blindness and severe headaches.

This gave rise to the suspicion that the vegetable-producing towns of Benguet and Mountain Province became dumping sites of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are commercially sold by unscrupulous businessmen who are only after the profit and care less about the health and environment of their customers.

Farmer-consumers in Benguet have produced millionaires out of middlemen and local financiers through the commercial sale of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides that has become a multi-million peso industry. With this, I am certain that the pesticide dealer became richer in every sale while the farmer only broke even or became even poorer.

Thursday last week, I received a text message from uncle Joseph of PIA informing me of a press conference about pesticides. I do appreciate what he does and thank him for that. He never misses sending out invitations through cell phone text messaging to newsmen based in Baguio about the scheduled press conferences that his office organizes and coordinates. Kudos.

But wait. There was one time he did not inform many of a presscon about Holcim’s project. Maybe there was something to hide away from prying eyes. I could have wanted to ask if it was true that there was not enough cement supply, reason why construction of public works was slow. Uncle Joe said he was not there. But weeks later, I saw his picture with the other guys who were exclusively invited to the press con. Kudos again.

Back to fertilizers and pesticides, these are farm inputs that vegetable farmers in Benguet uplands are enticed with, all because of a perceived increase in production and profit. So that as one cruises through the Halsema Highway, particularly at Natubleng, the sharp whiff of pesticides that fly from the cabbages catches the nostrils. Even with eyes closed, a traveller who passes this route once in a blue moon can identify a place by the scent in the cool breeze.

On the contrary, aside from applying the chemicals on vegetable plants, it has been experienced that pesticides have become eminent threats to human life and livestock. Around five years ago, the Fertilizers and Pesticides Authority had to stop the sale of an herbicide that was the prime suspect in the suicide deaths of more or less 15 “brave souls” in Benguet.

The same has caused serious damage to crops if used excessively. Pesticides also kill fishes as chemical residue from the uplands are now found in riverbeds or stick to the rocks. 

Pesticides are in rivers. Researchers from the University of Koblenz-Landau published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that freshwater sources in the United States, European Union, Asian countries and Africa are so heavily contaminated by pesticides that 80 percent of sediment tested at levels that exceed the maximums set by government regulators.

Governments, including the Philippines, approves a pesticide by setting the RTL or "regulatory threshold level". This is the level at which a chemical will not cause detrimental effects to the environment, especially to humans and animals, although it is known that synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are toxic even at their RTL.

Although, government agencies alleged that pesticide regulation has improved, the same European team of researchers claimed that newer pesticides exceeded RTLs than the older pesticides. They said, 40 percent of sediment samples retrieved from the bottom of the water contained pesticides higher than the allowed level.

The research concluded that high levels of contamination was widespread as they found almost no difference in the contamination of waters between poorer African and Asian countries, and wealthy countries such as the United States, European Union, Australia, Canada and Japan.

Recently, more than two metric tons of more than 100,000 empty individual pesticide containers were collected by pesticide dealers from Benguet farms for proper recycling and disposal at DENR-accredited facilities in Manila. Good and bad. The recyclable containers will be made into material for new containers. But imagine the tons of pesticides that were emptied from these containers and were dumped into the gardens.

It is good that agro-chemical companies along with their agents and dealers thought of collecting their garbage to ensure proper disposal. Although, the better move is for Benguet to legislate a stop to the sale and distribution of harmful synthetic farm inputs.

Doing so could reinforce PD 1144 that bans the use or formulation of pesticides in parts of the country upon the presentation evidence that the pesticide is an eminent hazard or is causing widespread serious damage to crops, fish, livestock and humans.