Environment groups laud decision to ban toxic chemicals in Geneva meeting

By ANTONIO L. COLINA IV

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews

CDO, Bukidnon farmers now directly sell corn to SMC

By Nef Luczon

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

– Farmers in this city and Bukidnon province are among the 13 areas in the country to become direct sellers for a giant food company.

In a statement Tuesday, the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), through its nutrition division San Miguel Foods (SMF), bared they have been directly buying from the two areas since 2020.

Since then, SMF said it has accumulated 1.3 million metric tons of corn amounting to PHP23.9 billion from the farmers.

SMC president and chief executive Ramon S. Ang said buying directly from this city, Bukidnon province, and 11 other areas was part of its corporate project to help local farmers.

“We are assured of local corn supply for our food business while our local farmers are guaranteed a steady market and fair prices for their crops. Buying directly from them boosts their income and keeps their livelihood,” he was quoted in the statement as saying.

At the height of the pandemic in 2020, SMF purchased over 500,000 metric tons or 500 million kilos of corn to help farmers in various provinces affected by quarantine protocols and supply chain disruptions the Philippines. Aileen Lucero, national coordinator of EcoWaste Coalition, said on Monday that there is a need to do a national inventory on DP and UV-328 to inform and guide the country’s efforts towards elimination of these pollutants.

/ 8 May) – Environmental groups here lauded the decision to ban certain highly toxic chemicals found in plastics and pesticides during the recent gathering of world leaders in Geneva, Switzerland for the 11th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

In a statement released by the EcoWaste Coalition and the Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), around 120 countries agreed to add UV-328, Dechlorane Plus (DP), and Methoxychlor to the list of highly toxic chemicals subject to a global ban.

The Philippines became a signatory to the convention after ratifying it in 2004.

She said plastic additives DP and UV-328 are considered high production volume chemicals, especially in developed economies, but added that they have yet to determine how much of these chemicals are manufactured, imported, and used in the Philippines.

She said Methoxychlor is largely banned or phased out in most countries but is not yet in the list of prohibited or restricted pesticides of the country’s Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority.

CORN SUPPLY. Hybrid corn varieties are grown at Northern Mindanao Agricultural Crops and Livestock Research Complex in Malaybalay City and Research Center for Upland Development in Dangcagan, Bukidnon. In a statement Tuesday (May 9, 2023), the San Miguel Corporation bared that Cagayan de Oro City and Bukidnon are the two of the 13 areas in the country that supply the company with corn. (Photo courtesy of Department of Agriculture-Northern Mindanao)