The Supreme Court has declared as unconstitutional a 2007 ordinance approved by President Rodrigo Duterte when he was still Davao mayor banning aerial spray of pesticides in banana plantations in the city and imposing a 30-meter buffer zone in all agricultural lands regardless of the size of landholdings.
In a unanimous decision, the SC upheld the 2009 ruling of the Court of Appeals declaring as unconstitutional Davao City Ordinance No. 0309-07 upon the petition of the Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association Inc.
The tribunal dismissed for lack of merit the separate petitions of the city government and city residents led by Wilfredo Mosquesda seeking the reversal of the appellate court’s decision.
The SC said the ordinance violated constitutional provisions on equal protection and due process as it prohibited aerial spraying regardless of the substance or the level of concentration of the chemicals to be applied
“The Court found that there was no substantial distinctions made in the ordinance and thus it violated equal protection,” the SC said in its ruling.
The Court also ruled that the ordinance violated the due process rights of banana growers when it imposed an inadequate period of three months to shift from aerial to truck-mounted boom spraying, depriving them of efficient means to combat banana diseases.
It noted that the Davao City government had no authority to regulate and control pesticides and other agricultural chemicals as these are within the powers of the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority.