Group to bishop: Remove asbestos in your church

Alarmed by presence of asbestos, the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines urged Angeles City Bishop Pablo Virfiolo David to remove cancerous asbestos in his church.

 

Bishop David earlier sought a dialogue between the parish and the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Natural Resources and local government officials after learning that asbestos-containing materials were used in the renovation of the church in May last month.

 

"We are advising Bishop David to remove the asbestos-containing materials from the church very carefully as soon as possible to prevent further firsthand and second hand dust exposure among church-goers and workers who conduct the renovation, and, to communities in the immediate environment,"Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP executive vice president and project coordinator of Ban Asbestos Philippines campaign, said.

 

The ALU-TUCP partners with a global union federation Building and Woodworkers International in advocating for the banning of asbestos in the country.

 

"An asbestos dust fiber is five thousand times smaller than hair in diameter—making the dust invincible to the naked eyes causing inhalation or ingestion of dust very subtle. And there are very simple protocols in removing it," Seno added.

 

ALU-TUCP has called the attention of Education Secretary Armin Luistro after learning that asbestos-laden wire gauzes are still used in high schools’ laboratories despite Luistro's promise  in 2011 to remove it from campuses.

 

Asbestos use in the Philippines is regulated through the implementation of Chemical Control Order for Asbestos by the EMB-DENR 13 years ago following confirmation in 1995  that  hundreds of Subic shipyard workers contracted asbestos-related diseases upon exposure to asbestos dust in their workplace.

 

The CCO limits the use of asbestos to fireproof clothing, cement roofing, cement flat sheet, friction materials, gaskets and battery separators. 

 

It prohibits the new use of asbestos in toys, pipe and boiler lagging, low-density jointing compounds, corrugated and commercial paper, untreated textile, flooring felt and covering, rollboard and other low-density products.