Councilor Leo Avila said that Orcullo may have been badly affected by the banana plantation’s campaign against her because Mandug and Callawa, which used to be considered Orcullo’s bailiwick in the previous elections where she had won as councilor, have large banana plantations.
“These places used to be her bailiwick,” said Avila, “But now, she suddenly lost them.” Avila and Orcullo were the two most vocal councilors pushing the ban. Unlike Orcullo, however, Avila ran in the first district, which does not have banana plantations.
As one of the countrys top banana exporters, Davao City has been host to vast tracts of banana plantations, a large part of which are in the second district where Orcullo ran and used to be a councilor.
Existing banana plantations affected by the ban employ over 7,000 workers. Since the measure was proposed, Orcullo said, she had been receiving threats and pressures from industry officials, who told her she would not be re-elected because of her stand against aerial spray.
The environment group Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis) had cited cases of strange diseases among people living around the banana plantation areas where aerial spraying has been a common practice. People belonging to the Mamamayan Against Aerial Spray (Maas) also complained that the drifts from chemicals sprayed on air constantly threatened to contaminate their drinking water and the lives of people and animals in the area.
The ordinance banning aerial spraying in Davaos banana plantations was considered a landmark ordinance and one of a kind. It shows the City Councils commitment to make Davao one of the most livable cities in the world by supporting policies that put more premium on the value of human life, without setting aside agricultural sustainability and viability, Avila said in an interview after the ordinance approval.
Avila, meanwhile, said this week that what happened to Orcullo should serve as a challenge to all councilors to make the people understand that the first to bear the brunt of environment problems are the poorest of the poor.
“We have a lot of explaining to do to show to the electorate that concerns on the environment have a direct impact on our food, water, health and livelihood,” Avila told davaotoday.com. He added that people have to realize that supporting causes for the protection of the environment is necessary “instead of giving way to KIBOT, or kwarta, insurance, bugas, odong, tinapa (money, insurance, rice, noodles and sardines) that is used by most politicians to buy votes from the people,” Avila told davaotoday.com.
But Orcullo said she is worried that what happened to her might send the wrong signal to the other councilors, who might already hesitate to undertake strong measures to protect the environment because banana companies have shown what they can do.
“Makatalaw (it can intimidate you),” said Orcullo, who stressed that the environment is now an urgent concern, that it has become a worldwide call that a “local legislative body as the City Council could no longer afford to ignore it.”
She urged members of the City Council never to be afraid to take a stand because the “future is at stake.”
“The call to preserve the environment is very urgent and that legislation is very crucial,” said Orcullo, who has a master’s in environment science. “Don’t be afraid,” she told the new councilors who won in the last elections. “Just look at the eyes of those innocent children, where you can find answers to your questions.” (Germelina A. Lacorte/davaotoday.com)
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