First Asbestos Seminar Held in The Philippines!
An educational seminar held on July 4, 2005 in Quezon City, the Philippines marked the public debut of a new campaigning group: Philippines Ban Asbestos Network (PBAN). The main objectives of this event, the first Asbestos Forum ever to be held in this country, were to: bring together groups and individuals identified as key stakeholders and raise public awareness of the risks Filipinos face from exposure to asbestos.
Delegates to the seminar included:
environmental lawyers from a group called: Tanggol Kalikasan (translated loosely as Protect/Defend Environment);
representatives of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines;
members of the United Architects of the Philippines and the National Union of Building and Construction Workers;
Alex Lacson, a lawyer who works closely with the Subic Asbestosis Victims Association;
officials from government agencies including: the Department of Trade and Industry (Bureau of Product Standards), the Department of Health and the Occupational Health and Safety Center;
students from the University of the Philippines-Institute of Chemistry;
journalists.
Dr. Marlito Cardenas, a former director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau and one of the founder members of PBAN, talked about the composition of the new group and its objectives.
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Describing asbestos and asbestos products as “silent but sure killers,” he said that asbestos was a huge threat to public as well as occupational health; rampant dumping of hazardous asbestos waste was rife and few, if any, safeguards protected workers from hazardous exposures. Dr. Cardenas pointed out that current asbestos legislation and guidelines on asbestos management in the Philippines were woefully inadequate and called for a national ban on asbestos use.
The next speaker, Dr. Pythias Espino, a Professor of Chemistry at the University of the Philippines, delivered a technical lecture which focused on the fiber's chemical behaviour and uses. The Professor revealedthe risks Filipino workers face from hazardous asbestos exposures and cited the widespread availability and lower prices of asbestos-containing construction products and friction materials many of which are not labelled as containing asbestos.
Dr. Dina Diaz, the head of the Pulmonary Medicine Department of the Lung Center of the Philippines, described the health hazards of asbestos exposure, explaining its role in the causation of severe lung diseases.
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Data gathered from a study of former shipyard workers at the Subic Naval base was presented, which showed that amongst the 1,582 workers, 366 have been diagnosed with asbestosis and 132 are suffering from pleural disease. Attorney Alex Lacson, who represents some of these injured workers, spoke briefly about legal efforts to obtain compensation for these claimants. In November, 2004, Attorney Lacson attended the Global Asbestos Congress in Tokyo. This conference, which opened his eyes to the gravity of the asbestos situation in the Philippines, reaffirmed his conviction that an asbestos ban was essential. The final speaker of the day was Mr. Nonoy Palarca from the National Union of Building and Construction Workers. Mr. Palarca highlighted the sorry plight of Filipino construction workers and the occupational hazards they face every single day, which include asbestos exposure.
The final session of the seminar was an open forum for questions and answers. During this period, many delegates pledged to join the PBAN campaign:
Tanggol Kalikasan expressed its desire to support future PBAN initiatives;
the Environmental Broadcast Center said it would cooperate with future information and education programs;
the National Union of Building and Construction Workers pledged its commitment to the development of: a database of construction workers exposed to asbestos, a buildings' registry and an asbestos products' registry.
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Manila-based asbestos companies are importing 4,000 metric tons of asbestos annually for use in asbestos fiber cement boards, packaging materials, gaskets, friction and mechanical parts such as brakes and automotive clutches. Asbestos cement, banned throughout Europe, is still highly valued in the Philippines and is being incorporated into major building projects like shopping malls, gasoline stations, airports and apartment complexes. Clearly, there is much work to be done to eliminate the asbestos hazard from the Philippines; the founding of PBAN and the holding of the Asbestos Seminar are important first steps towards the goal of an asbestos-free Philippines.
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August 1, 2005
