Angeles City allots funds for toxic waste study

ANGELES CITY — Long dogged by the issue of toxic wastes allegedly left behind by the American military at Clark Field, the city government finally acknowledged yesterday the dangers posed by the hazardous substances to local residents.

Mayor Carmelo Lazatin signed an agreement with the People’s Task Force on Bases Clean-up (PTFBC), allocating P511,511 in city funds for a three-month study to determine the extent of the toxic wastes’ harmful effects on the health of residents of two barangays, Sapang Bato and Margot.

The two barangays were identified as the most contaminated with toxic wastes in another study conducted by the Canada-based International Institute of Concern for Public Health (IICPH) in 1996.

Meanwhile, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, who attended the signing rites at the Sapang Bato High School, urged the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to set aside some of its funds to help indigent families affected by alleged toxic wastes the US military left behind at Clark and Subic.

"Pagcor earned a net profit of P9 billion last year, and part of its earnings must go to the victims," said Osmeña, who has spent personal money to help at least two children with heart ailments, blamed on toxic wastes at Clark, undergo heart surgeries.

"The city has acknowledged the veracity of the (IICPH study) done last 1996 under the supervision of the PTFBC and headed by Dr. Rosalie Berell," states the agreement between the city government and the task force.

PTFBC executive director Myrla Baldonado said the new survey will cover 30 percent of the 1,295 families in Sapang Bato and 716 families in Margot.

Baldonado said the survey will continue the work done by the IICPH whose study, at a cost of $3,150, funded by the James Doughtery Foundation, covered only three percent of the population of seven barangays near Clark in Mabalacat town.

In a report, the IICPH noted that a "high rate of nervous symptoms, including tremors, cramps and spasms" were found among respondents in Sapang Bato and Margot.

"In fact, they have, overall, the highest rate of nervous problems, urinary tract problems, blood problems, muscle and bone problems, eye problems, digestive problems, cardiovascular problems and respiratory problems, of the seven areas studied," the IICPH said.

The agreement signed yesterday noted that Margot is located behind a former warehouse for scrap aircraft materials of the 196th Squadron of the US Air Force at Clark.

On the other hand, Sapang Bato is located near a former civil engineering area of the US military where pesticides were used. It is also located near the petroleum, oil and lubricants depot of the old Clark Air Base.

Ernesto de la Cruz, 68, leader of Purok 1 of Sapang Bato, said the US Air Force had used his barangay as dumping site for toxic wastes for many years.

Two days ago, laborers constructing a day-care center in Purok 1 dug up asbestos, which can cause lung cancer, at a site for a sewage tank.

De la Cruz said other types of wastes were dumped in huge volumes into the Sapang Bato creek near Clark’s eastern fence, after the US military abandoned Clark in the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991.