U.S. TOXIC WASTE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
Brief Background
On February 2,
1987, the Filipino people, with 76% of the 25 million eligible voters
participating, overwhelmingly ratified a pro-peace and nuclear weapons-free
Constitution. On June 6, 1988, the Philippine Senate approved the "Freedom
From Nuclear Weapons Act" to implement in concrete terms the constitutional
mandate and, now, the national policy banning nuclear weapons from Philippine
territory.
At first, the
problem was that not all anti-nuclear advocates inside or outside the government
were anti-bases. But it was actually the Americans who unwittingly
reconciled the two, making anti-nuclear pacifists into fierce anti-bases
advocates. Everyone knew that the U.S. Navy regularly transited and always
had on "standby storage" tactical nuclear weapons in their massive logistical
depots on Philippine territory. U.S. authorities made this clear when they
threatened to give up the bases if nuclear weapons were not allowed on them.
Moreover, the U.S. policy and insistence on neither confirming or denying the
presence of nuclear weapons on the bases naturally led Filipinos to link nuclear
weapons with the bases, and, consequently, to call for the removal of U.S. bases
and facilities.
On September
16, 1991, the Philippine Senate, exercising its constitutional duty, voted to
reject the Philippine-U.S. bases treaty that would have extended the U.S.
military presence in our territory for another ten years. This decision
called for the closure of 22 American bases scattered throughout the
Philippines, including two of the largest U.S. bases outside of U.S.A. -- the
Clark and Subic bases. On December 31, 1991, the Philippine government
finally decided to give the United States government a year to complete its
military withdrawal from the Philippines.
But, while the
fate of the military bases was still being discussed, nature herself had
hastened the departure of the U.S. troops from Clark Air Base. Mount
Pinatubo, a volcano located adjacent to the base, erupted in June 1991.
From
Volcanic Ashes to Toxic Dump
As Americans
fled the base, residents of communities in Manibaug Porac, sought refuge within
Clark's borders. Government set up an evacuation camp at Clark Air Base
Command (CABCOM) for more than 20, 000 families. About 7,000 families
lived in tent houses inside the camp. Necessarily, thousands of evacuee
families were forced to share the use of severely inadequate facilities
including 203 deep wells and around 200 emergency toilets instantly installed in
various places inside the 12-hectare camp. Today, many children who were
conceived and born in CABCOM suffer congenital heart ailments and central
nervous system disorders. Those who grew and lived within the area have
been found to develop immune system disorder and are now suffering from various
types of cancer including leukemia.
These
are some of the victims:
|
Sheila Pineda, 3 years old,
has congenital heart disease. |
Abraham Taruc, 6 years old,
has cerebral palsy.
|
|
Regine Balagtas, 3 years old,
has congenital heart disease
(two holes in the heart).
|
Lester Basilio, 13 years old,
has serious kidney disorder.
Scheduled for dialysis. |
Evidences of Contamination
In 1992,
the U.S. General Accounting Office reported contaminated sites in Clark and
Subic but claimed "no responsibility for environmental damage." The
report, however, triggered investigation by other concerned agencies.
Among them are:
-
World
Health Organization (WHO) Mission Report, which identified the pollutants
present in the former bases;
-
Department of Health (DOH) Review, which found oil and grease in water samples
taken from water wells in Clark;
-
"Health
for All Study" by Canadian Epidemiologist Rosalie Bertell, which noted
"startingly high" levels of kidney diseases;
-
Woodward
Clyde Environmental Baseline Survey and Environmental Quality Survey of Subic;
-
Weston
International Environmental Baseline Study and Soil & Water Baseline Study
at Clark;
-
The
investigation conducted by the Commission on Human Rights, which confirmed all
other earlier studies.
All the above
studies revealed that heavy metals and contaminants ranging from oil and
petroleum lubricants, pesticides such as aldrin, dieldrin and DDT to PCBs, lead,
mercury, arsenic and others were found in various levels exceeding Philippine
National Standards.
Status Quo?
While it has
been nearly a decade since the U.S. Forces abandoned their military bases in
Philippine territory, almost a century of American military presence indelibly
left its mark on the lives of people living in the former base lands.
Within what is now the Clark Special Economic Zone and its outskirts, former R&R
bars thrive, foreign investors and tourists luxuriate in resorts while foreign
currencies freely circulate in the duty-free shops of Clark's vast commercial
area. In contrast, residents of communities bordering the base, who are
mostly impoverished, wonder whether their children would grow up healthy, or
even at all. For these Filipinos were thoughtlessly subjected to one of
the most disturbing cases of environmental injustice in Asia, or even around the
world.
Von
Hernandez, chairperson of the People's Task Force for Bases (PTFBC) Clean-up, in
the Foreword of the PTFBC book, INHERITORS OF THE EARTH:
The
continuing tragedy of poisoning and contamination in Clark and Subic is an
active statement of the irresponsible and reckless way in which the United
States conducted itself at the height of its military presence and dominance
in the Philippines. The heartbreaking stories of babies dying and
people suffering from leukemia, mental disorders, weakened immune systems
and various learning disabilities within and around the former bases
represent an enduring legacy of toxic transgressions whose foremost and
vulnerable victims are children.
While the
victim communities wait for responsible action from the U.S. as well as their
own government, the miasma of poisons left behind by the American military will
keep on wreaking the damage. The damage is not only physical, it is also
profound. This chemical trespass stabs into the future when it robs our
children of their potential to achieve and live healthy and meaningful lives.
It is
unthinkable for a nation to sacrifice the lives of its children and allow them
to continue skirting the edge of an abysmal toxic future. When we allow
this to happen by our own inaction and by the insensitivity of our own decision
makers, we are guilty of betraying not only their future but our future as a
nation. After all, our children are all that we are as a people.
They are all that we have. No one, not even the world's most powerful
nation, has the right to steal our children's future.
It is also
noteworthy, that the Philippine Senate -- after proudly upholding the
nuclear-free constitutional mandate, despite U.S. pressure -- recently ratified
the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States. Having
this agreement is worse than having bases because it puts the U.S. military
above Philippine laws, giving them unrestricted use of our territories, with no
responsibility for the subsequent toxic wastes and other damages to our land and
our people.
Will we
allow the whole Philippines to be a toxic dumpsite and our people deprived of
meaningful lives?
