16 September 2014, Manila – Environmental
justice group BAN Toxics (BT) and the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG)
announced their emphatic support for the resolution filed by Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago calling for proactive measures to prevent toxic waste from
other countries being dumped in the Philippines.
The resolution also calls for the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment, an amendment to the Basel Convention, which bans the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes from developed to lesser developed countries that are destined for disposal or recycling.
“The perceived negative impacts of the Basel Ban Amendment to the
Philippine economy is based on fear-mongering and is without basis. The Ateneo
School of Government has prepared a well thought of study that debunks the myth
around the resistance to the Basel Ban Amendment,” Gutierrez added.
The resolution also calls for the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment, an amendment to the Basel Convention, which bans the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes from developed to lesser developed countries that are destined for disposal or recycling.
“Once again Sen. Miriam is leading the charge on this issue. Sec. Paje
and the DENR establishment should be ashamed. Back in 2007 during the
Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement joint committee hearing, she
recommended the ratification of the Basel Ban to the DENR. 7 years later, she’s
still at it and the DENR still has its head stuck in the sand,” stated BT
executive director Atty. Richard Gutierrez.
BT and ASoG released a study entitled Demystifying the Impacts of a
Basel Ban Amendment Ratification by the Philippines[i] last March, which
dispels the major concerns of industry and other sectors that the ratification
of the Ban Amendment will have adverse impacts to the Philippine economy.
The study focuses on the economic, environmental, and health impacts of
the hazardous waste recycling activities in order to aid in policy making in
determining the acceptability of the Basel Ban Amendment. The study relied, in
part, on trade import data from the United Nations Commodity Trade database (UN
Comtrade) to assess Philippine imports of toxic waste for a period of 10 years
and case studies to assess the impact of the Basel Ban Amendment.
“The prevailing trade data as well as empirical evidence on the ground
show no reason why the Philippines should continue to withold its ratification
of the Basel Ban Amendment. The gravity of this toxic waste problem cannot be
denied, and we, as an independent country, should assert our rights against
these foreign threat,” said Atty. Arvin Jo of ASoG.
Toxic wastes from
other countries have exposed Filipinos to a number of health and environmental
risks. In 1999 toxic waste from Japan was intercepted in Manila and just
recently, the Canadian container vans holding hazardous wastes that were
intercepted by the Bureau of Customs. Until now, the Canadian waste shipment is
still lodged at the Port of Manila, more than a year after the first batch of
garbage arrived on Philippine shores.
Hazardous wastes
comes in many form including e-waste and other garbage such as medical wastes,
and clinical wastes that include a toxic brew of mercury, lead, cadmium,
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs), to
name a few. According to the UN Comtrade, 4.7 million tons of
hazardous waste have been shipped by developed to lesser developed countries
from 1998 to 2008. Not
only is public health and environmental integrity at stake, the latest toxic
waste dumping has also exposed a growing traffic problem in the Manila port
terminal.
BT and ASoG hope that
Sen. Santiago’s resolution can finally jumpstart the ratification process that
has long been dragged by the DENR since 1995.
“We not only need to
send a clear signal to the rest of the world the Philippines is not a dumping
ground, but it seems that we need to send the clear signal as well to the
President and his cabinet that the Philippines should be nobody’s dumpsite,”
Gutierrez ended. (Angelica
Carballo-Pago)
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