“Huling Baylan ng Buhi,” a digital film by independent Davao filmmaker Sherad Anthony Sanchez, won four major awards at the recent Cinema One Originals competition in Manila. Here are pictures of the awards ceremony, courtesy of Dr. Jelieta Ruca, one of the members of the cast.
A group of Tausug artists from Sulu have accused a prominent Davao-based nongovernment group abuse, among them serving them food that was not halal, according to this Sun.Star Davao report.…
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, in a statement issued today, warned that more chemical poisoning -- such as the one that happened in the Tadeco banana plantation last Wednesday --…
Nearly 80 individuals, most of them schoolchildren, fell ill on Wednesday after they were exposed to toxic fumes from the banana plantation of Tadeco, which is owned by the Floirendos, in Dujali, Davao del Norte, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. Authorities said at least 30 of the children passed out after inhaling a chemical used to kill worms in banana plants, the paper said.
This incident, the latest in a string of chemical poisoning in the Philippines the past week, is sure to revive the debate in Davao on how banana plantations are using chemicals, particularly aerial spraying. This early, one environment group warned that what happened in Dujali could happen in Davao.
For months, the workers at a Davao del Norte banana plantation owned by Marsman-Drysdale, one of the largest agri-business companies in the country, were not paid their salaries. This plunged the workers? families into extreme conditions and indebtedness. The company also failed to remit the workers? SSS, Philhealth and Pag-IBIG payments. Desperate, the workers banded together, forcing the company to pay up. Davao Today staff writer Marilou M. Aguirre reports.
For more Davao Today stories and special reports on the problems being faced by workers in the banana plantations of Southern Mindanao, click here.
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