Brouhaha Over Basura

With the impending vote by the Philippine Senate to ratify JPEPA, I am re-posting my article, "Brouhaha Over Basura," which was published two months after JPEPA was signed in Helsinki on September 9, 2006. I believe that the Senate should look into this trade agreement very seriously before deciding on its ratification. Once it's signed there is no turning back and any damage done to the Philippines would be irreversible.

Perry


November 10, 2006

PerryScope
Perry Diaz

Brouhaha Over Basura

On September 9, 2006, at the Asia-Europe People's Forum in Helsinki, Finland, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi signed the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). The comprehensive free trade agreement -- the first bilateral trade treaty since the parity agreement with the U.S. in 1946 -- would be a big boost to the Philippines' economy. Among the items agreed upon is the employment of nurses and caregivers in Japan. In return, however, the Philippines would allow the entry of toxic and hazardous waste to be dumped on Philippine soil.

Philippine environmentalists pointed out that one of the hazardous waste materials allowed is the highly toxic incinerator ash which is banned by the Basel Convention of which the Philippines and Japan are signatories. The Basel Convention does not allow the exportation of toxic materials to another country unless the government of that country approves it. However, both the Philippines and Japan have not ratified the more stringent Basel Ban amendment which banned trading of all hazardous waste including those that are labeled -- or mislabeled -- for "recycling."

Why the Philippine negotiators at the Helsinki confab allowed this to happen is beyond reason. It's either they're stupid or ignorant of Philippine law. Republic Act 6969, known as Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, which was enacted in 1990, declares: "It is the policy of the State to regulate, restrict or prohibit the importation, manufacture, processing, sale, distribution, use and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that present unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or the environment, to prohibit the entry, even in transit, of hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into Philippine territorial limits for whatever purpose." Clearly, the yet-to-be-ratified JPEPA is a violation of Philippine law.

In 2000, four Filipinos representing a firm that imported tons of toxic waste from Japan were sued by the Philippine government. Sinsei Enterprises Inc., the Manila-based partner of a Japanese firm, Nisso Ltd., was suspected of shipping hazardous waste to the Philippines. According to the lawsuit, 122 containers arrived in Manila on July 22, 1999, and were declared to contain 80% "recyclable waste paper" and 20% plastic. The illegal shipment was cleared when it left Japan. However, an inspection of the cargo upon its arrival in Manila revealed hospital waste materials piled under adult diapers, candy wrappers, used sanitary napkins, aluminum foil and noodle cups. Customs inspectors and reporters present during the inspection said that the "smell was so bad that those present threw up and moved away from the containers." The containers were shipped back to Japan and the Japanese government paid for the expenses. The four accused Filipinos mysteriously disappeared and are still at large today.

Are we looking at the tip of a "stinking" iceberg here? How rampant is the smuggling of hazardous waste in the Philippines? Recently, an investigation by Greenpeace International revealed a massive flow of automobile lead-acid batteries from industrialized countries to Third World countries including the Philippines. Greenpeace reported that the end result of this free trade in toxic waste is the suffering of thousands of workers and children from lead blood poisoning, rivers and air loaded with lead emissions, and big profits for the lead battery brokers and manufacturers. Other toxic waste being dumped in the Philippines are waste oil from South Korea and electronic waste from various countries.

Compounding the illegal importation of toxic waste is the Philippines' inability -- the Philippines has no recycling industry -- to dispose or treat its own hazardous waste which is estimated at more than 2.5 million tons a year. Garbage dumps like Payatas in Quezon City are the repository of all kinds of waste including hazardous material. With the anticipated importation of toxic waste from Japan, the health of future generations of Filipinos would be compromised.

Under JPEPA, the Philippines is allowed to export its toxic waste to Japan. But who in Japan would buy them? Japanese society has for centuries branded and isolated waste-handlers, butchers, tanners, and executioners. They are called Burakumin -- the "untouchables." They lived in isolated villages called Buraku -- there are 4,000 such villages today. They are placed at the lowest social rank -- "Eta" (extreme filth) or "Hinin" (non-human). They are considered polluted and are not allowed to move out of their Buraku. Today, there are 1.17 million Burakumin. It is no wonder that Japan is eager to export its toxic waste -- handling waste is taboo in their society.

India's caste system has similarity to Japan. They, too, have "untouchables" -- the Harijan. People who work in unclean occupations -- similar to the Burakumin -- are looked upon as polluting people. In some regions, even a contact with their shadow was considered as polluting. If someone comes in contact with an "untouchable," that person is defiled and has to immerse or wash himself or herself with water to be purified. In 1949, the use of the term "untouchable" became illegal and discrimination against them became illegal as well. However, the social stigma against the more than 60 million "untouchables" remains. One "untouchable" -- K.R. Narayanan -- broke this social barrier and became the President of India in 1997.

With the brouhaha over toxic waste -- basura -- the Philippine Senate indicated that it would scrutinize the trade agreement with Japan. In reaction to the furor, the Japanese embassy in Manila reassured the Philippine government that they would export toxic waste only if the Philippine government approves it.

What was once a Paradise called the "Pearl of the Orient Seas," the Philippines is becoming to be the garbage dump of the world -- a Payatas on a global scale. Are we going to be the new "untouchables" of the world? There is still time to reverse this massive destruction of our environment. The government has to renegotiate the trade treaty with Japan and remove toxic and hazardous waste as exportable items. And it must also ratify the Basel Ban amendment. It's time that the government cleans up its act and enforce the Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act. As the saying goes, "Cleanliness is next to godliness."

(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)