Safety Or Liability? A Dive Into Linguistic Features Of Philippine Pesticide Product Warnings

Abstract

The disconnect between farmers and pesticide manufacturers begins when the product warnings fail to serve their purpose in transmitting vital communication information clearly and effectively.

This research explores the significance of Pesticide Product Warnings in the Philippines since these cautionary texts served as the most immediate pre-and post-references of farmers in their typical farming routines. It examines the language features of these warnings, identifying the qualities of lexicons intended for farmers that may impact their safety behavior. Issues confronting heavy technical terminology, modality, adjectives, and complex sentence structures are spotted, which may hinder farmers’ understanding of risks. These shortcomings have significant implications for both user safety and manufacturer liability, highlighting the need for clearer, more context-sensitive communication strategies. In the end, the study underscores the importance of aligning safety warnings with the real-world contexts of Filipino farmers to ensure both effective risk communication and legal defensibility.