Aside from the aerial spraying, the plantation also ground-sprays their banana crops using chemicals such as Furadan and Nemacur, both of which have been labeled as “extremely hazardous”. The village people believe that their underground water supply, 180 ft. deep, has long since been contaminated with it. During the rainy season, rains wash over the plantation’s land and the pesticide-riddled water flows into the village where it rises up to as high as waist-level. As a result, the villagers who unavoidably wade in and the children who play in it get ill.

An even worse predicament for the village is the fact that the river and the sea, both of which have been one of their major sources for food and income before, have not been spared from pesticide defilement. Their waters, which used to be teeming with fish, are now heavily polluted with chemicals. Fishermen recall a time 30 years ago, “when we used to garner up to 200 kilos of fish everyday. Now we are lucky if we can catch 2 kilos of it.” They have also observed the regular occurrence of fish kills, when there used to be none. And due to extreme poverty, people eating the contaminated fish cannot be avoided, and they end up getting sick as a result. Complaints have been repeatedly brought up to the plantation owners but the owners refused to claim responsibility in the sea contamination. The fishermen then tried to appeal to provincial authorities and they even took samples of the dead specimens, water, and soil to the town hall, but again their pleas merely fell on deaf ears and no definite action was taken.

With pesticides destroying the natural life in the land and water they were dependent on, the villagers who once never went hungry suddenly found themselves going to bed on empty stomachs.