Endosulfan threat still looms off Romblon
By Caroline Howard, ANC | 09/03/2008 4:18 PM
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Communities in Romblon's coast have been deprived of their primary livelihood, fishing, amid the threat of toxic contamination due to the presence of toxic cargo onboard the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars.
According to ABS-CBN reports from the field, residents of San Fernando town are now the subject of evacuation plans ahead of efforts to retrieve the toxic cargo expected to begin this week. The Philippine Coast Guard says there is the danger of the ship sinking to the depths, making retrieval efforts impossible.
Aling Irene is seven-moths pregnant, and has 10 other mouths to feed. Since the vessel sank in June, her husband, a fisherman, has been forced to find other sources of income. Like other residents, they worry about where to source their next meal, much less their day-to-day expenses.
Today, Mang Manito has to walk 5 kilometers just to be able to fish. They subsist on fish, but today they have to buy even the fish they eat.
Aling Irene and Mang Manito and other residents of San Fernando cannot wait for salvage operations on the sunken vessel to finish and for the ship to be removed from Romblon waters so they can resume living their normal lives.
Alternatives snubbed
But the threat of toxic contamination from the chemical pesticide endosulfan now looming over Romblon, and keeping residents away from the water, may not be hounding local communities today, had local cash-crop companies heeded the suggestion of government authorities to switch to effective substitutes to the pesticide.
Instead, companies have been using endosulfan, an insecticide first marketed in the Philippines in the 1960s, which has scientifically been found effective in controlling mites that cause the pink disease in pineapples. A suspected endocrine disruptor, endosulfan has been linked to autism, birth defects and abnormalities. Various scientific studies have shown risks to health or farm workers and those living near plantations with symptoms of poisoning ranging from unconsciousness, congenital deformity to death. Similar cases have also been reported in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Such reasons have prompted European Union countries to ban or restrict its use. Its been restricted for institutional use in the Philippines since 1993. Long considered for global elimination under the U.N. Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants or the Stockholm Convention to which the Philippines is a signatory, for many years, scientists and stakeholders have also been wanting it banned from use in the country.
Toxicologist Dr. Romeo Quijano says, studies have shown evidence of toxic contamination in a number of Philippine provinces. "Recent monitoring in Davao water bodies, plantations and farmers we still see endosulfan. Since the chemical is still being used by Del Monte and Dole, I expect more contamination." In a study he conducted on farm workers of the International Rice Research Institute in 2000, he had linked exposure to various pesticides including Persistent Organic Pollutants or POPs like endosulfan to various types of ailments that affected the workers and their families.
Ban endosulfan
Quijano is also Convenor of RESIST Agrochem TNCS, a broad coalition of Philippine-based farmers organizations, NGOs and support organizations calling for a ban on endosulfan and other toxic chemicals. Amid reported incidents of chemical poisoning in fruit plantations, farmers groups and scientists now want government to review its policy on the pesticide's use. "We call on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to ban all toxic chemicals now. Likewise, the government should impose strict guidelines and monitoring in importation, distribution and the use of pesticides in the country."
The group also urges authorities to impose strict guidelines and monitoring in the importation, distribution and use of pesticides in the country which they say, have been smuggled through identified backdoors such as Zamboanga, Tawi-Tawi, the Ilocos Region and Batanes. Citing how companies have continuously applied chemicals like endosulfan in their operations despite it being a restricted pesticide, some critics score the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) for giving exemptions to agrochemical transnational corporations (TNCs) like Del Monte Philippines Inc. (DMPI) and Dole Phils..
Bukidnon bans endosulfan
Following an inquiry on the use of the chemical by DMPI and Dole and the dangers it poses to humans and animals, in August, the Provincial Board of Bukidnon passed an ordinance that prohibits the transport and use of the chemical pesticide endosulfan and its derivatives in the province's plantations. The ordinance was passed five months ahead of the December 31, 2008 expiration of the 3-year authorization issued by the FPA Board to DMPI and Dole, allowing the companies restricted use of the chemical in 1993. The city ordinance is expected to take effect this month. Meantime, the city of Malaybalay has also passed a resolution urging the FPA not to renew its authorization for endosulfan once it expires at the end of the year.
FPA alternatives
The FPA, however, says interagency monitoring on endosulfan has not shown worrisome results. "We have not encountered any single accident in connection with endosulfan both with Del Monte and Dole. There has been no direct associated poisoning cases because we have to be very strict. This is covered by product stewardship. We have been conducting training and monitoring water, air, including the health of people working in plantations and involved in the mixing of endosulfan," says Norlito Guicana, Director of the FPA. He, however, adds, over the past two years, their agency had studied and screened a host of alternatives, and after commercial testing, proposed effective alternatives to endosulfan as early as a year ago. "We have ready substitutes for endosulfan, four products: ibermechtin, actelic, orthus and majester. The FPA approved it, unfortunately Del Monte and Dole are not using it at the moment."
Sonia Calleja, FPA Director in Northern Mindanao, says the DMPI has tried many active ingredients in their trials immediately after restrictions on endosulfan in 1993 but encountered problems with residue. She, however, believes this is the right time that DMPI shift to alternatives to endosulfan.
Time ripe for shift
The FPA has calendared a board meeting in the coming days to study the possibility of banning the use of endosulfan in the country. Ahead of the expiration of its registration in December, the agency plans to review the chemical's continued use. "Most likely because of the issue, now we are not bent on extending the registration and usage of endosulfan," FPA Director Guicana says. He admits, with alternatives to the pesticide on hand, they are ready in the event endosulfan is phased out. But he adds, pulling out the chemical from institutional use will have economic and social implications: "In the event the pineapple industry is relocated like Thailand and Indonesia, this will create problems in employment for the Philippines, this will affect taxes generated," Guicana says.
Quijano, however, insists nothing compares to what may really be lost if changes are not done: "If you consider the dangers in using the chemical and the danger to the economy, you can't put a price to human life and the environment."
Today, residents of San Fernando, Romblon can only wait and hope they are spared from the potential ravages of toxic cargo onboard the sunken vessel that threatens to deprive them of their livelihood and their future.
