544 Phil. 59
PUNO, CJ.:
WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing considerations and finding the restraining order prayed for by the plaintiff to be meritorious and well-founded, it is hereby ordered that defendants Vicente Lañohan as an agent of FPA and Pablo Turtal, Jr. as the Manager of SUPESCON and their representatives and other persons working for and in their behalf, to cease and desist immediately from stopping and disturbing in any form the business operations of the plaintiff, from requiring plaintiff to obtain a license and/or permit from the FPA and from prohibiting plaintiff from participating in any and all private and public biddings related to its business. No pronouncement as to damages and costs.Petitioner and Vicente Lañohan appealed to the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the decision of the trial court. The appellate court also denied petitioner and Lañohan's motion for reconsideration.SO ORDERED. [8]
Section 8. Prohibitions Governing Sale and Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides. It shall be unlawful for any handler of pesticides, fertilizer, and other agricultural chemicals or for any farmers, planter or end-user of the same as the case may be:Petitioner also cites Ministry of Health Administrative Order No. 39, s. 1979, which delisted "pesticide, insecticide and other economic poisons as household hazardous substances under Category V" from those subject to the licensing and registration requirements of the Food and Drug Administration. According to the Administrative Order, "under [P.D.] No. 1144 dated May 30, 1977, creating the [FPA], it was found desirable 'to have one Agency to regulate . . . pesticide labelling, distribution, storage, transportation, use and disposal.'" [9]
(a) To engage in any form of production, importation, distribution, storage and sale in commercial quantities without securing from the FPA a license therefor;
(b) To use any pesticide or pesticide formulation on crops, livestock, and the environment in a manner contrary to good agricultural practices as hereinabove defined;
(c) To deal in pesticides and/or fertilizers which have not been previously registered with FPA, or which registration has expired or has been suspended or revoked;
(d) To adulterate pesticides formulation and fertilizer grade;
(e) To impose as a condition for the purchase of fertilizer, the simultaneous purchase of pesticide for other agricultural chemical inputs and vice-versa;
(f) To mislabel or make claims which differ in substance from the representation made in connection with a product's registration or from its actual effectiveness; and
(g) To violate such other rules and regulations as may be promulgated by FPA.
Section 9. Registration and Licensing. No pesticides, fertilizers, or other agricultural chemical shall be exported, imported, manufactured, formulated, stored, distributed, sold or offered for sale, transported, delivered for transportation or used unless it has been duly registered with the FPA or covered by a numbered provisional permit issued by FPA for use in accordance with the conditions as stipulated in the permit. Separate registrations shall be required for each active ingredient and its possible formulations in the case of pesticides or for each fertilizer grade in the case of fertilizer.
No person shall engage in the business of exporting, importing, manufacturing, formulating, distributing, supplying, repacking, storing, commercially applying, selling, marketing, of any pesticides, fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals except under a license issued by the FPA.
The FPA, in the pursuit of its duties and functions, may suspend, revoke, or modify the registration of any pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals after due notice and hearing.
WHEREAS, it is Government policy to provide adequate assistance to the agricultural sector in line with the national objective of increasing food production;Further, P.D. No. 1144 uses the term "pesticides" always in conjunction with "fertilizers" or with the phrase "fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals/chemical inputs" or the phrase "other agricultural chemicals," thus:
WHEREAS, fertilizer and pesticides are vital inputs in food production and must be supplied in adequate quantities at reasonable costs;
WHEREAS, improper pesticide usage presents serious risks to users, handlers, and the public in general because of the inherent toxicity of these compounds which are, moreover, potential environmental contaminants;
WHEREAS, there is a need to educate the agricultural sector on the benefits as well as the hazards of pesticide use so that it can utilize pesticides properly to promote human welfare while avoiding dangers to health and environmental pollution;
WHEREAS, the fertilizer and pesticide industries have much in common in terms of clientele, distribution channels, system of application in farmers' fields, and technical supervision by the same farm management technicians under the government's food production program;
WHEREAS, the foregoing considerations make it desirable to have one agency to regulate fertilizer importation, manufacture, formulation, distribution, delivery, sale, transport and storage as well as pesticide labeling, distribution, storage, transportation, use and disposal;
WHEREAS, the Fertilizer Industry Authority was created by Presidential Decree No. 135, dated 22 February 1973, and amended by Presidential Decree Nos. 517 and 669, dated 19 July 1974 and 11 March 1975 respectively, in order to regulate, control and develop the fertilizer industry but does not include the pesticide industry in its jurisdiction;
WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to create a technically-oriented government authority equipped with the required expertise to regulate, control and develop both the fertilizer and the pesticide industries;
[Emphases supplied.]
Section 6. Powers and Functions. The FPA shall have jurisdiction, on over all existing handlers of pesticides, fertilizers and other agricultural chemical inputs. The FPA shall have the following powers and functions:Aside from the use of the word "pesticides" always in conjunction with "fertilizers" or with the phrase "fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals/chemical inputs" or the phrase "other agricultural chemicals," the italicized portions of P.D. No. 1144, as quoted above, buttress the interpretation that the law applies only to pesticide use for agricultural purposes.
I. Common to Fertilizers, Pesticides and other Agricultural Chemicals.
. . .
(2) To promote and coordinate all fertilizer and pesticides research in cooperation with the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and other appropriate agencies to ensure scientific pest control in the public interest, safety in the use and handling of pesticides, higher standards and quality of products and better application methods;
. . .
III. Pesticides and Other Agricultural Chemicals
(1) To determine specific uses or manners of use for each pesticide or pesticide formulation;
(2) To establish and enforce tolerance levels and good agricultural practices for use of pesticides in raw agricultural commodities;
(3) To restrict or ban the use of any pesticide or the formulation of certain pesticides in specific areas or during certain periods upon evidence that the pesticide is an imminent hazard, has caused, or is causing widespread serious damage to crops, fish or livestock, or to public health and the environment;
(4) To prevent the importation of agricultural commodities containing pesticide residues above the accepted tolerance levels and to regulate the exportation of agricultural products containing pesticide residue above accepted tolerance levels;
(5) To inspect the establishment and premises of pesticide handlers to insure that industrial health and safety rules and anti-pollution regulations are followed;
(6) To enter and inspect farmers' fields to ensure that only the recommended pesticides are used in specific crops in accordance with good agricultural practice;
(7) To require if and when necessary, of every handler of these products, the submission to the FPA of a report stating the quantity, value of each kind of product exported, imported, manufactured, produced, formulated, repacked, stored, delivered, distributed, or sold;
(8) Should there be any extraordinary and unreasonable increases in price or a severe shortage in supply of pesticides, or imminent dangers or either occurrences, the FPA is empowered to impose such controls as may be necessary in the public interest, including but not limited to such restrictions and controls as the imposition of price ceilings, controls on inventories, distribution, and transport, and tax-free importations of such pesticides or raw materials thereof as may be in short supply.
. . .
Section 8. Prohibitions Governing Sale and Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides. It shall be unlawful for any handler of pesticides, fertilizer, and other agricultural chemicals or for any farmers, planter or end-user of the same as the case may be:
(a) To engage in any form of production, importation, distribution, storage, and sale in commercial quantities without securing from the FPA a license therefor;
(b) To use any pesticide or pesticide formulation on crops, livestock, and the environment in a manner contrary to good agricultural practices as hereinabove defined;
(c) To deal in pesticides and/or fertilizers which have not been previously registered with FPA, or which registration has expired or has been suspended or revoked;
(d) To adulterate pesticides formulation and fertilizer grade;
(e) To impose as a condition for the purchase of fertilizer, the simultaneous purchase of pesticide for other agricultural chemical inputs and vice-versa;
(f) To mislabel or make claims which differ in substance from the representation made in connection with a product's registration or from its actual effectiveness; and
(g) To violate such other rules and regulations as may be promulgated by FPA.
Section 9. Registration and Licensing. No pesticides, fertilizers, or other agricultural chemical shall be exported, imported, manufactured, formulated, stored, distributed, sold or offered for sale, transported, delivered for transportation or used unless it has been duly registered with the FPA or covered by a numbered provisional permit issued by FPA for use in accordance with the conditions as stipulated in the permit. Separate registrations shall be required for each active ingredient and its possible formulations in the case of pesticides or for each fertilizer grade in the case of fertilizer.
No person shall engage in the business of exporting, importing, manufacturing, formulating, distributing, supplying, repacking, storing, commercially applying, selling, marketing, of any pesticides, fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals except under a license issued by the FPA.
The FPA, in the pursuit of its duties and functions, may suspend, revoke, or modify the registration of any pesticide, fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals after due notice and hearing.
Section 1. Creation of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority. The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, hereinafter referred to as the FPA, is hereby created and attached to the Department of Agriculture for the purpose of assuring the agricultural sector of adequate supplies of fertilizer and pesticide at reasonable prices, rationalizing the manufacture and marketing of fertilizer, protecting the public from the risks inherent in the use of pesticides, and educating the agricultural sector in the use of these inputs.Significantly, the above-quoted provision of P.D. No. 1144 sets the parameters of the powers and duties of the FPA. First, the FPA is designated as an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture. Urban pest control or pesticide use in households, offices, hotels and other commercial establishments has nothing to do with agriculture. Second, it spells out the purposes for which the FPA was created, viz: "for the purpose of assuring the agricultural sector of adequate supplies of fertilizer and pesticide at reasonable prices, rationalizing the manufacture and marketing of fertilizer, protecting the public from the risks inherent in the use of pesticides, and educating the agricultural sector in the use of these inputs." All these purposes limit the jurisdiction of the FPA to agricultural pesticides.