Former US naval base workers dying of lung cancer

SUBIC, Zambales — Former workers at the US naval base here are reportedly now dying of lung cancer at a rate of three per month allegedly as a result of exposure to asbestos and other substances, a report released yesterday said.

This month alone, five former US base workers died after exhibiting symptoms of asbestosis, a form of lung cancer triggered by exposure to asbestos, said the People’s Task Force on Bases Clean-Up (PTFBC).

PTFBC executive director Myrla Baldonado identified the victims as Romeo Santiago, Rolando Manila and Lazaro Ocampo, who were former employees of the US navy repair facility (SRF); Restituto Ramirez, who was with the public works center (PWC); and Alfredo Famistan, a scavenger at a dump site of the US Navy.

"The five latest victims had one thing in common — they handled asbestos and were exposed to it in the course of their work for the US Navy," Baldonado said.

The US Navy here was known to use asbestos fibers as coolants for the boiler of warships. Filipino workers were asked to wear protective gears only in 1986.

Some 8,000 Filipinos had worked either at the SRF or the PWC without any protective gear from 1945 to 1985, the PTPBC said.

Specialists are saying that symptoms of asbestosis normally manifest some 30 years after significant exposure to the substance.

Recent X-ray examinations conducted by the Alliance for Bases Cleanup, International (ABC-International) revealed that of the 251 former Subic workers who were examined, 145 had symptoms of asbestosis.

A few years ago, the workers, represented by American lawyer-volunteers, had filed a case against the US-based firms that had supplied the US Navy with asbestos products but the US government itself has not given them any form of assistance.

There were reports that some of the workers who were awarded some compensation by the firms had been duped by their American lawyers who represented them in US federal courts. The workers were not able to attend the hearings as they were denied visa by the US Embassy.