Priests who should promote impart upon people that which is true, honest and with bases are telling people wrongs and unfounded claims.
Lilia Mosqueda of the Gagmay Kristohanong Katilingban (Small Christian Community) said Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying president Cecilia Moran and a certain Liezl Bacalso were reported to have talked to the parishioners during mass for the Feast of St. Ignatius at the Ateneo de Manila University last July 30, to the seminarians at the Ateneo School of Theology, to students of the Ateneo Law School at Rockwell in Makati and to socialites at the Nine-Mile Bar along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City.
"Their forum is a grossly one-sided affair and is a repudiation of Ateneo's time-honored tradition of being issue-confronting but dialogic and educative," said an Ateneo Law School student.
Cecilia Moran’s neighbours expressed shock and dismay that some priests in Manila have fallen for her emotional outburst against Davao's banana industry.
Barangay Captain Romulo C. Tubal of Dacudao, Calinan said people opposing the aerial spraying are totally disconnected from Barangay and reality. Tubal said that they insist on using "pesticides" because Manila residents associate it with "insecticides" and therefore harmful when the truth of the matter is that what is being sprayed is low-dose fungicide. He said that they do not represent the majority sentiments of the people who are daily witnesses to the good agricultural practices of the industry and who have actual experience for the past 30 years of the effects of low-dose fungicide to their health and environment. "It is not harmful as it is milder than table salt, coffee or laundry soaps contrary to their claim that it is as strong as insecticides," he said.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Coal supplier eyes Mindanao for expansion
A COAL supplier plans to capitalize on increasing coal demand in Mindanao to expand its market reach.
Due to high and unpredictable world oil prices, MG Mining and Energy Corp., a unit of Sultan Mining and Energy Development Corp., said canneries and other manufacturing plants in the region are converting their boilers to run on coal instead of bunker fuel.
"Coal is only one-third the price of fuel," Michael Morales, MG Mining vice-president for sales, said.
Banking on growing demand, MG Mining said in a statement it would expand its market to Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Davao, with Mindanao sales expected to hit 20,000 metric tons a month as a result.
MG Mining sells at least 5,000 tons a month in General Santos alone, where it commands a 95% market share.
Bunker fuel prices are expected to go up again as world oil prices recover, Mr. Morales said, forcing manufacturers in Mindanao to retool their plants.
"They spend an initial P25 million to P30 million to buy new coal-fired boilers but are able to recoup this investment in less than a year from savings," Mr. Morales said.
MG Mining operates within a 10,470-hectare coal property in Surigao del Sur, defined by three Coal Operating Contracts (COC). COC 106 and 45 cover over 8,000 hectares, while COC 127 covers about 2,000 hectares.
MG Mining expects to expand its production further through a larger coal property in South Cotabato, which is still under development.
link: http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW090109/content.php?id=044
Due to high and unpredictable world oil prices, MG Mining and Energy Corp., a unit of Sultan Mining and Energy Development Corp., said canneries and other manufacturing plants in the region are converting their boilers to run on coal instead of bunker fuel.
"Coal is only one-third the price of fuel," Michael Morales, MG Mining vice-president for sales, said.
Banking on growing demand, MG Mining said in a statement it would expand its market to Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga and Davao, with Mindanao sales expected to hit 20,000 metric tons a month as a result.
MG Mining sells at least 5,000 tons a month in General Santos alone, where it commands a 95% market share.
Bunker fuel prices are expected to go up again as world oil prices recover, Mr. Morales said, forcing manufacturers in Mindanao to retool their plants.
"They spend an initial P25 million to P30 million to buy new coal-fired boilers but are able to recoup this investment in less than a year from savings," Mr. Morales said.
MG Mining operates within a 10,470-hectare coal property in Surigao del Sur, defined by three Coal Operating Contracts (COC). COC 106 and 45 cover over 8,000 hectares, while COC 127 covers about 2,000 hectares.
MG Mining expects to expand its production further through a larger coal property in South Cotabato, which is still under development.
link: http://www.bworld.com.ph/BW090109/content.php?id=044
NEIGHBORS APPEAL TO MORAN, ET AL TO TELL THE TRUTH
The neighbors of Mamamayan Ayaw sa Aerial Spraying president Cecilia Moran in Barangay Dacudao, Calinan yesterday expressed shock and dismay that some priests in Manila have fallen for her emotional outburst against Davao's banana industry.
"Where is their (priests) sense of discernment?" asked Lilia Mosqueda of the Gagmay Kristohanong Katilingban (Small Christian Community) reacting to reports that Moran is on a six-month tour in the National Capital Region under the auspices of the National Task Force Against Aerial Spray many of whose members does not know anything about banana much less have seen a Cavendish banana plantation.
Moran and a certain Liezl Bacalso were reported to have talked to the parishioners during mass for the Feast of St. Ignatius at the Ateneo de Manila University last July 30, to the seminarians at the Ateneo School of Theology, to students of the Ateneo Law School at Rockwell in Makati and to socialites at the Nine-Mile Bar along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City.
"Their forum is a grossly one-sided affair and is a repudiation of Ateneo's time-honored tradition of being issue-confronting but dialogic and educative," said an Ateneo Law School student.
Banana grower Moises Torrentira, 60 of Subasta, Calinan called on Moran and Bacalzo to stop their tirades against banana growing and the aerial spraying of low-dose fungicide as they know deep in their Christian hearts that they are not telling the truth.
"They are totally disconnected from the barangay and reality" said Barangay Captain Romulo C. Tubal of Dacudao, Calinan. He said that they do not represent the majority sentiments of the people who are daily witnesses to the good agricultural practices of the industry and who have actual experience for the past 30 years of the effects of low-dose fungicide to their health and environment. "It is not harmful as it is milder than table salt, coffee or laundry soaps contrary to their claim that it is as strong as insecticides," he said.
Tubal said that they insist on using "pesticides" because Manila residents associate it with "insecticides" and therefore harmful when the truth of the matter is that what is being sprayed is low-dose fungicide.
Meanwhile, a member of a women's support group, Damayan, based in Ultrect, The Netherlands alleged that the charitable Dutch agencies funding the lobby against the Philippine banana industry might have no idea that their humanitarian aid have been misused to promote economic interests.
"If what we heard are true that Dutch-funded cause-oriented groups are into lobbying against Davao's banana industry then said industry is in trouble as, contrary to popular belief, they are a David facing a Goliath of well-funded networks," she said in an e-mail to Sulong Mindanao Foundation. She requested that her name be witheld at the moment.
She claimed that among the funding agency is one of the biggest in the European Union having a declared asset of a billion guilders and counts 370,000 institutional and individual donors in the Netherlands alone.
"Where is their (priests) sense of discernment?" asked Lilia Mosqueda of the Gagmay Kristohanong Katilingban (Small Christian Community) reacting to reports that Moran is on a six-month tour in the National Capital Region under the auspices of the National Task Force Against Aerial Spray many of whose members does not know anything about banana much less have seen a Cavendish banana plantation.
Moran and a certain Liezl Bacalso were reported to have talked to the parishioners during mass for the Feast of St. Ignatius at the Ateneo de Manila University last July 30, to the seminarians at the Ateneo School of Theology, to students of the Ateneo Law School at Rockwell in Makati and to socialites at the Nine-Mile Bar along Kalayaan Avenue in Quezon City.
"Their forum is a grossly one-sided affair and is a repudiation of Ateneo's time-honored tradition of being issue-confronting but dialogic and educative," said an Ateneo Law School student.
Banana grower Moises Torrentira, 60 of Subasta, Calinan called on Moran and Bacalzo to stop their tirades against banana growing and the aerial spraying of low-dose fungicide as they know deep in their Christian hearts that they are not telling the truth.
"They are totally disconnected from the barangay and reality" said Barangay Captain Romulo C. Tubal of Dacudao, Calinan. He said that they do not represent the majority sentiments of the people who are daily witnesses to the good agricultural practices of the industry and who have actual experience for the past 30 years of the effects of low-dose fungicide to their health and environment. "It is not harmful as it is milder than table salt, coffee or laundry soaps contrary to their claim that it is as strong as insecticides," he said.
Tubal said that they insist on using "pesticides" because Manila residents associate it with "insecticides" and therefore harmful when the truth of the matter is that what is being sprayed is low-dose fungicide.
Meanwhile, a member of a women's support group, Damayan, based in Ultrect, The Netherlands alleged that the charitable Dutch agencies funding the lobby against the Philippine banana industry might have no idea that their humanitarian aid have been misused to promote economic interests.
"If what we heard are true that Dutch-funded cause-oriented groups are into lobbying against Davao's banana industry then said industry is in trouble as, contrary to popular belief, they are a David facing a Goliath of well-funded networks," she said in an e-mail to Sulong Mindanao Foundation. She requested that her name be witheld at the moment.
She claimed that among the funding agency is one of the biggest in the European Union having a declared asset of a billion guilders and counts 370,000 institutional and individual donors in the Netherlands alone.
Traffic violators and over speeding drivers, disciplined
Tuesday last week, I was waiting for a tricycle for home when lovers on a motorcycle were hit by a bus running at 180 kph while the lovers were trying to maneuver over the opposite street. It was so sudden that the last thing I saw were the lovers’ cadavers, “heads” spread on the street.
The nauseating view has not left me until now. I was so enraged with anger to the bus driver who was over speeding on the highway.
While reading a national paper, I was somehow delighted to know that DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno is heightening his move against drivers over speeding and other violators of traffic laws and regulations.
Puno directed the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) headed by its director, Chief Supt. Orlando Mabutas, to increase its visibility on national roads and other major thoroughfares and step up its crackdown against traffic law violators.
“Upon the instructions of the President, I have directed Chief Superintendent Mabutas of the HPG to step up its campaign against overspeeding motorists, drunk drivers and other violators of traffic laws,” Puno said.
Puno noted that most motorists seem to be unaware of the maximum allowable speed limits as prescribed under existing laws.
The prescribed maximum allowable speed limits under Republic Act 4136, otherwise known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code are 80 km/hr for passenger cars and motorcycles, and 50 km/hr for trucks and buses in open country roads “with no blind corners not closely bordered by habitation.” On “through” streets or boulevards clear of traffic with no blind corners, the limits are 40 km/hr for passenger cars and motorcycles and 30 km/hr for trucks and buses .
On city and municipal streets with light traffic and not designated as through streets, the speed limit for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses is 30 km/hr. For crowded streets “approaching intersections at blind corners, passing school zones, passing other vehicles which are stationary or for similar dangerous circumstances,” maximum allowable speeds are 30 km/hr for cars and motorcycles and 20 km/hr for trucks and buses.
I hope drivers now will take safety a part of their culture. We do not know who will suffer tomorrow, who will bereave over someone’s loss or who will lose a father, mother or a bread winner due to the negligence of others. I believe Puno’s cause against undisciplined drivers will go a long way.
The nauseating view has not left me until now. I was so enraged with anger to the bus driver who was over speeding on the highway.
While reading a national paper, I was somehow delighted to know that DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno is heightening his move against drivers over speeding and other violators of traffic laws and regulations.
Puno directed the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) headed by its director, Chief Supt. Orlando Mabutas, to increase its visibility on national roads and other major thoroughfares and step up its crackdown against traffic law violators.
“Upon the instructions of the President, I have directed Chief Superintendent Mabutas of the HPG to step up its campaign against overspeeding motorists, drunk drivers and other violators of traffic laws,” Puno said.
Puno noted that most motorists seem to be unaware of the maximum allowable speed limits as prescribed under existing laws.
The prescribed maximum allowable speed limits under Republic Act 4136, otherwise known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code are 80 km/hr for passenger cars and motorcycles, and 50 km/hr for trucks and buses in open country roads “with no blind corners not closely bordered by habitation.” On “through” streets or boulevards clear of traffic with no blind corners, the limits are 40 km/hr for passenger cars and motorcycles and 30 km/hr for trucks and buses .
On city and municipal streets with light traffic and not designated as through streets, the speed limit for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses is 30 km/hr. For crowded streets “approaching intersections at blind corners, passing school zones, passing other vehicles which are stationary or for similar dangerous circumstances,” maximum allowable speeds are 30 km/hr for cars and motorcycles and 20 km/hr for trucks and buses.
I hope drivers now will take safety a part of their culture. We do not know who will suffer tomorrow, who will bereave over someone’s loss or who will lose a father, mother or a bread winner due to the negligence of others. I believe Puno’s cause against undisciplined drivers will go a long way.
How a mining firm turns to illegal logging firm? Curious huh?!
This is a great threat to environmentalist, to big mining firms who are committed for a responsible development. Nowadays, only few of the hundreds of these mining firms are committed not mainly to gain profit but to commit themselves to bring development in every communities affected.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/network/gov%E2%80%99t-hunting-down-chinese-mining-exec
This is a great threat to environmentalist, to big mining firms who are committed for a responsible development. Nowadays, only few of the hundreds of these mining firms are committed not mainly to gain profit but to commit themselves to bring development in every communities affected.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/network/gov%E2%80%99t-hunting-down-chinese-mining-exec
TECHNICAL REVIEW: DOH STUDY RIGGED
The Technical Committee and consultants of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) declared Saturday that "the DOH-commissioned study on the people's health and environment of Sitio Camocaan was rigged to give credence to the claims of Dr. Romeo Quijano that said sitio was poisoned due to the aerial spraying of low-dose fungicide."
PBGEA spokesperson Anthony Sasin said that the conclusion was arrived at after painstaking investigation which finally established beyond reasonable doubt that Dr. Dionisio and his co-investigators undertook the research with strong bias against pesticide, used environmental samples of questionable integrity and fabricated illnesses among residents.
"The fact is that they cannot dissociate themselves from Dr. Romeo Quijano contrary to their claims as Dr. Dionisio's co-investigator, a certain Dr. Lynn Crisanta R. Panganiban, sits as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pesticide Action Network Philippines headed by Dr. Quijano himself," Sasin said.
He said that PBGEA have already provided the top-level Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health (IACEH) a copy of their findings including the videotaped testimonies of witnesses, among them a barangay health worker, who said that they were left alone by one of the investigators, Engr. Ana Francisco Rivera, to gather water and soil samples.
Rivera, in an open forum June 3, 2009 during the People's Inquiry on said study said that she gathered water from a fishpond and from an irrigation canal. Mrs. Adela Amado, the barangay health worker, pinpointed the exact site where she took the water sample: in a mangrove pond some distance form the village where water from two newly-developed fishponds accumulate. On page 21 of the DOH study, said samples were cited as drinking water.
Mrs. Amado also testified that she gathered soil sample not from undisturbed soil but from a pile of sweepings which experts find grossly unscientific especially for a health risk assessment study. "Engr. Rivera just sat in the shade while were gathering these samples," said Mrs. Amado which made apparent that Engr. Rivera does not have personal knowledge of the integrity of the environmental samples.
It was also found out that Dionisio's team used an HPLC to analyze air samples of which four out of six samples proved negative for pesticide residue, one with an allowable level and one with residues slightly above the acceptable level. Experts say that these samples should have been confirmed by mass spectrometry since the samples were not actually sprayed with fungicides. A fungicide was also analyzed by a non-selective detector (electron capture) so this should have been confirmed also.
The very same haphazard sampling was done in Sitio Baliwaga where Mrs. Nara Ventura, a barangay health worker in the area since 1986, testified that a soil sample was taken in a mud alley to Purok Dagsa. Said purok was not mentioned in the study. Mrs. Ventura also said that majority of the residents whom they invited for a free check-up, free meals and hauled to the barangay center were from said Purok Dagsa where the households use fishpond water for laundry. This was also not cited in the study and buried under the sweeping statement that "the residents have dermatologic ailments probably due to pesticides used in a nearby mango plantation." Said mango plantation is actually a good two kilometers away from coastal Baliwaga.
The municipal health officer of Hagonoy, Dr. Patricio Hernane and of Sta. Cruz, Dr. Lorraine Ana Lindong, were both quoted a week ago saying that until now, they have not received the list of people that Dionisio claimed to be sick due to aerial spraying so that they can be attended to. Dionisio promised to give said list last June 3, 2009.
"It has been three years and several months since they made the study. How long will we wait?" asked Rowelito Tigao of Camocaan. He said that he and his daughter were among those who submitted to Dionisio's free check-up but until now was not informed whether he or his daughter is sick. He said he works in a banana plantation and is regularly exposed to pesticides.
A local health official who requested anonymity said that they now understand why Dionisio and company hid the study for three years, did not open it for peer review, allowed it to be used as a prop in a television show, held a very low-profile public discussion on said study mostly with militants and resist contrary findings, an attitude that is un-scientific. She disclosed that the first time they heard of the study was when she received a text message from Dr. Dionisio on the day that the pesticide issue will be aired on TV. Dionisio urged them to see the show so that they will be able to handle queries from the media.
"Our track record the past thirty years proved that low-dose fungicide poses no risk to people's health and environment. It is milder than table salt, coffee, nizoral shampoo or of the obnoxious and deleterious carbon monoxide which people from all walks of life are exposed daily or of the acetaldehydes, chloromethanes, dioxane, phosphates and alkylbenzene sulfonic acid in laundry soaps and detergents used daily by millions of households in the country" Sasin said.
"No amount of theatrics can cover-up their wrong premises, false postulates and falsified attestations," said Sasin as he expressed optimism that the DOH, despite Engr. Ana Francisco Rivera sitting as chairperson of IACEH's Secretariat, will still be able to appraise Dionisio's study with scientific objectivity and finally bring out the truth that whatever raw risk that they tried to establish against aerial spraying is purely anecdotal and non-existent.
PBGEA spokesperson Anthony Sasin said that the conclusion was arrived at after painstaking investigation which finally established beyond reasonable doubt that Dr. Dionisio and his co-investigators undertook the research with strong bias against pesticide, used environmental samples of questionable integrity and fabricated illnesses among residents.
"The fact is that they cannot dissociate themselves from Dr. Romeo Quijano contrary to their claims as Dr. Dionisio's co-investigator, a certain Dr. Lynn Crisanta R. Panganiban, sits as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pesticide Action Network Philippines headed by Dr. Quijano himself," Sasin said.
He said that PBGEA have already provided the top-level Inter-Agency Committee on Environmental Health (IACEH) a copy of their findings including the videotaped testimonies of witnesses, among them a barangay health worker, who said that they were left alone by one of the investigators, Engr. Ana Francisco Rivera, to gather water and soil samples.
Rivera, in an open forum June 3, 2009 during the People's Inquiry on said study said that she gathered water from a fishpond and from an irrigation canal. Mrs. Adela Amado, the barangay health worker, pinpointed the exact site where she took the water sample: in a mangrove pond some distance form the village where water from two newly-developed fishponds accumulate. On page 21 of the DOH study, said samples were cited as drinking water.
Mrs. Amado also testified that she gathered soil sample not from undisturbed soil but from a pile of sweepings which experts find grossly unscientific especially for a health risk assessment study. "Engr. Rivera just sat in the shade while were gathering these samples," said Mrs. Amado which made apparent that Engr. Rivera does not have personal knowledge of the integrity of the environmental samples.
It was also found out that Dionisio's team used an HPLC to analyze air samples of which four out of six samples proved negative for pesticide residue, one with an allowable level and one with residues slightly above the acceptable level. Experts say that these samples should have been confirmed by mass spectrometry since the samples were not actually sprayed with fungicides. A fungicide was also analyzed by a non-selective detector (electron capture) so this should have been confirmed also.
The very same haphazard sampling was done in Sitio Baliwaga where Mrs. Nara Ventura, a barangay health worker in the area since 1986, testified that a soil sample was taken in a mud alley to Purok Dagsa. Said purok was not mentioned in the study. Mrs. Ventura also said that majority of the residents whom they invited for a free check-up, free meals and hauled to the barangay center were from said Purok Dagsa where the households use fishpond water for laundry. This was also not cited in the study and buried under the sweeping statement that "the residents have dermatologic ailments probably due to pesticides used in a nearby mango plantation." Said mango plantation is actually a good two kilometers away from coastal Baliwaga.
The municipal health officer of Hagonoy, Dr. Patricio Hernane and of Sta. Cruz, Dr. Lorraine Ana Lindong, were both quoted a week ago saying that until now, they have not received the list of people that Dionisio claimed to be sick due to aerial spraying so that they can be attended to. Dionisio promised to give said list last June 3, 2009.
"It has been three years and several months since they made the study. How long will we wait?" asked Rowelito Tigao of Camocaan. He said that he and his daughter were among those who submitted to Dionisio's free check-up but until now was not informed whether he or his daughter is sick. He said he works in a banana plantation and is regularly exposed to pesticides.
A local health official who requested anonymity said that they now understand why Dionisio and company hid the study for three years, did not open it for peer review, allowed it to be used as a prop in a television show, held a very low-profile public discussion on said study mostly with militants and resist contrary findings, an attitude that is un-scientific. She disclosed that the first time they heard of the study was when she received a text message from Dr. Dionisio on the day that the pesticide issue will be aired on TV. Dionisio urged them to see the show so that they will be able to handle queries from the media.
"Our track record the past thirty years proved that low-dose fungicide poses no risk to people's health and environment. It is milder than table salt, coffee, nizoral shampoo or of the obnoxious and deleterious carbon monoxide which people from all walks of life are exposed daily or of the acetaldehydes, chloromethanes, dioxane, phosphates and alkylbenzene sulfonic acid in laundry soaps and detergents used daily by millions of households in the country" Sasin said.
"No amount of theatrics can cover-up their wrong premises, false postulates and falsified attestations," said Sasin as he expressed optimism that the DOH, despite Engr. Ana Francisco Rivera sitting as chairperson of IACEH's Secretariat, will still be able to appraise Dionisio's study with scientific objectivity and finally bring out the truth that whatever raw risk that they tried to establish against aerial spraying is purely anecdotal and non-existent.
JUST ANSWER ISSUES
No amount of posturing and claim of infallibility as a medical doctor can cover-up for the irreversible technical and ethical lapses committed by Dr. Alan Dionisio and his team in their controversial Camocaan study.
This was the main gist of PBGEA spokesman Anthony Sasin's repartee to Dr. Romeo F. Quijano, president of the Pesticide Action Network Philippines whose allegations of Camocaan villagers being "sick and dying due to aerial spraying" were all found to be anecdotal and unfounded.
"Being a medical doctor does not license him to be infallible," said Sasin as he expressed dismay at Quijano's run-around of the issues raised against him as the principal instigator of the DOH study of Camocaan, a fact he repeatedly denied and which Dr. Alan Dionisio and Dr. Annabelle Yumang announced during the July 3 Public Inquiry hosted by the municipal government of Hagonoy.
"Who will believe them?"asked Sasin appalled at the repeated denials of a fact that they themselves wrote in unequivocal terms that said study was made in response to Quijano's allegation that Camocaan is a poisoned village.
Sasin said that Quijano's challenge for a new study is just a rehash of the very same challenge he posed to the group. "Why make a big fuss out of something that is almost a non-issue?" he asked saying that all it takes is for them and the rest of the doctors who subscribe to their findings to just visit Camocaan, talk to the residents, the mayor, the barangay health workers, the municipal health officer, the tribal chieftains and anyone of those they claimed to be adversely affected by aerial spraying.
"Camocaan is a typical Filipino village that is peaceful and where the villagers are hospitable and friendly and they welcome everyone with honest intentions," said Sasin.
Sasin said that they can also talk to Mr. Lolong Pelletero, an NGO worker in Digos City and Mr. Ramil Murillo, both of whom were brought to New Zealand by Quijano sometime in 2006 and paraded before delegates of a pesticide-elimination convention as "survivors of a poisoned village."
"I am not a doctor and one does not need to be a doctor to appreciate the actual situation in Camocaan and separate facts from lies," said Sasin who also wish that the good toxicologist marry his own thoughts. "He said he is a well-trained toxicologist and has the people's welfare at heart, then why recommend ground spraying? Sasin asked.
The PBGEA spokesman told media that it will take just 30 liters of low-dose fungicide to cover a hectare while it will take 60 or more liters in ground spraying. "So where is the logic in his proposition as a toxicologist? That the more chemicals we spray, the safer?" he asked.
"That calls for a second opinion, right?" Sasin concluded
This was the main gist of PBGEA spokesman Anthony Sasin's repartee to Dr. Romeo F. Quijano, president of the Pesticide Action Network Philippines whose allegations of Camocaan villagers being "sick and dying due to aerial spraying" were all found to be anecdotal and unfounded.
"Being a medical doctor does not license him to be infallible," said Sasin as he expressed dismay at Quijano's run-around of the issues raised against him as the principal instigator of the DOH study of Camocaan, a fact he repeatedly denied and which Dr. Alan Dionisio and Dr. Annabelle Yumang announced during the July 3 Public Inquiry hosted by the municipal government of Hagonoy.
"Who will believe them?"asked Sasin appalled at the repeated denials of a fact that they themselves wrote in unequivocal terms that said study was made in response to Quijano's allegation that Camocaan is a poisoned village.
Sasin said that Quijano's challenge for a new study is just a rehash of the very same challenge he posed to the group. "Why make a big fuss out of something that is almost a non-issue?" he asked saying that all it takes is for them and the rest of the doctors who subscribe to their findings to just visit Camocaan, talk to the residents, the mayor, the barangay health workers, the municipal health officer, the tribal chieftains and anyone of those they claimed to be adversely affected by aerial spraying.
"Camocaan is a typical Filipino village that is peaceful and where the villagers are hospitable and friendly and they welcome everyone with honest intentions," said Sasin.
Sasin said that they can also talk to Mr. Lolong Pelletero, an NGO worker in Digos City and Mr. Ramil Murillo, both of whom were brought to New Zealand by Quijano sometime in 2006 and paraded before delegates of a pesticide-elimination convention as "survivors of a poisoned village."
"I am not a doctor and one does not need to be a doctor to appreciate the actual situation in Camocaan and separate facts from lies," said Sasin who also wish that the good toxicologist marry his own thoughts. "He said he is a well-trained toxicologist and has the people's welfare at heart, then why recommend ground spraying? Sasin asked.
The PBGEA spokesman told media that it will take just 30 liters of low-dose fungicide to cover a hectare while it will take 60 or more liters in ground spraying. "So where is the logic in his proposition as a toxicologist? That the more chemicals we spray, the safer?" he asked.
"That calls for a second opinion, right?" Sasin concluded
Protecting Women & Children
Others may be mouthing women and children advocacies but none has taken concrete steps—like what Ronnie Puno has been doing—to really protect Filipino women and children.
Besides setting up Women and Children Protection Desks (WCPDs) in every municipality nationwide on his watch, DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno is also supporting another women- and child-friendly program to further empower them in pursuing justice and fighting for their rights.
This initiative, dubbed the Barangay Human Rights Program, aims to increase the awareness of women of their basic rights and that of their children under the country’s judicial system.
According to media reports, Ronnie has called on local officials nationwide to support the training initiatives under the Barangay Human Rights Program, which also aims to enhance the proficiency of barangay officials particularly the member of the Lupon Tagapamayapa “in performing their mandated tasks and responsibilities towards good local governance.”
“[The training] is designed to provide necessary tools and practices in the administration of the Barangay Justice System to enable the poor, particularly women and children, to pursue justice through increased knowledge about basic rights and the judicial system,” Ronnie Puno said in his circular.
The DILG’s training arm, the Local Government Academy, and the various DILG regional offices will conduct the training with the central theme “The Barangay Human Rights Program: Accessing Justice through Gender-Responsive and Child-Friendly Barangay Justice System” in the country’s capital towns and cities.
Hence, besides the WCPDs, where distraught women and kids can turn to for assistance when they are abused and exploited, the DILG has a complementary program that will help prevent women and children from becoming victims—by educating them about their basic constitutional rights.
This training on human rights at the barangay level is being conducted to ensure the smooth implementation of the Department’s Local Government Human Rights Program, which is designed to ensure the accountability of local authorities in the protection and promotion of human rights in their respective localities.
The Local Government Human Rights Program is a flagship initiative of the DILG on Ronnie Puno’s watch.
Ronnie has ordered teams of DILG trainers to go to all capital towns and cities in every region to spearhead the training, which will be conducted in partnership with other stakeholders in the locality.
This program, along with the establishment of over 1,800 WCPDs nationwide, is concrete proof of Ronnie’s determination and resolve to empower our vulnerable sectors, particularly women and children.
As they say in the vernacular si Ronnie ay “punong-Puno” ng determinasyon para sa pagsusulong ng karapatan at kapakanan ng ating mga kabataan at kababaihan.”
Come to think of it, it appears that at this point, only Ronnie Puno among the 2010 wannnabes has been advancing the interests of women and children.
Besides setting up Women and Children Protection Desks (WCPDs) in every municipality nationwide on his watch, DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno is also supporting another women- and child-friendly program to further empower them in pursuing justice and fighting for their rights.
This initiative, dubbed the Barangay Human Rights Program, aims to increase the awareness of women of their basic rights and that of their children under the country’s judicial system.
According to media reports, Ronnie has called on local officials nationwide to support the training initiatives under the Barangay Human Rights Program, which also aims to enhance the proficiency of barangay officials particularly the member of the Lupon Tagapamayapa “in performing their mandated tasks and responsibilities towards good local governance.”
“[The training] is designed to provide necessary tools and practices in the administration of the Barangay Justice System to enable the poor, particularly women and children, to pursue justice through increased knowledge about basic rights and the judicial system,” Ronnie Puno said in his circular.
The DILG’s training arm, the Local Government Academy, and the various DILG regional offices will conduct the training with the central theme “The Barangay Human Rights Program: Accessing Justice through Gender-Responsive and Child-Friendly Barangay Justice System” in the country’s capital towns and cities.
Hence, besides the WCPDs, where distraught women and kids can turn to for assistance when they are abused and exploited, the DILG has a complementary program that will help prevent women and children from becoming victims—by educating them about their basic constitutional rights.
This training on human rights at the barangay level is being conducted to ensure the smooth implementation of the Department’s Local Government Human Rights Program, which is designed to ensure the accountability of local authorities in the protection and promotion of human rights in their respective localities.
The Local Government Human Rights Program is a flagship initiative of the DILG on Ronnie Puno’s watch.
Ronnie has ordered teams of DILG trainers to go to all capital towns and cities in every region to spearhead the training, which will be conducted in partnership with other stakeholders in the locality.
This program, along with the establishment of over 1,800 WCPDs nationwide, is concrete proof of Ronnie’s determination and resolve to empower our vulnerable sectors, particularly women and children.
As they say in the vernacular si Ronnie ay “punong-Puno” ng determinasyon para sa pagsusulong ng karapatan at kapakanan ng ating mga kabataan at kababaihan.”
Come to think of it, it appears that at this point, only Ronnie Puno among the 2010 wannnabes has been advancing the interests of women and children.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
