Clark toxic waste death toll now 100

MABALACAT, Pampanga - A total of 100 people have died since 1995 from diseases believed to have been caused by toxic wastes that US troops left at the former Clark air base.

The latest victim, Lilia Dizon, 44, succumbed to kidney failure at the Mawague resettlement area here last Saturday, said Nerissa Agustin, local coordinator of the People's Task Force for Bases Cleanup (PTFBC).

Agustin said kidney failure has been linked to the toxic wastes at Clark, citing a study conducted by the environmental firm Veston International in 1998.

Like the 99 other victims, Dizon had lived at the Clark Evacuation Center along with thousands of refugees after they were displaced by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, Agustin said.

Agustin said the PTFBC started conducting a survey on the health conditions of people living in communities within the area and periphery of Clark.

At least five residents of Barangay Sapang Bato on Clark's western boundary with Angeles City have already died of leukemia, a disease believed to be caused by mercury contamination, said Winston Miranda, a PTFBC volunteer at the barangay.

One of the victims, Renato dela Rosa, 55, worked at Clark and was assigned to strip asbestos boards from the ceiling of a building now occupied by a duty free shop, he added.

Agustin, who is a nurse, said kidney failure is often associated with lead, one of the wastes already identified by the Department of Health in a recent study of blood samples from 32 residents of Clark Evacuation Center, which the US Air Force used as a motorpool.

She said the PTFBC is monitoring the health conditions of former Clark residents, who have been relocated to the Madapdap Resettlement Center in this town.

Dizon was the first "toxic waste fatality" to be reported at the Mawague Resettlement area, she added.

Since 1995, 99 former Clark residents have already died in Madapdap alone from different diseases believed to have been triggered by toxic wastes, according to records at PTFBC.

Agustin said the victims died of various illnesses, including cancer of the liver, bone, breast, nose, and the pharynx, as well as leukemia and kidney failure.

These diseases were also identified as related to toxic wastes at Clark in a "Health-for-All" survey conducted by the International Institute of Concern for Public Health in Canada in 1998, she added.

Meanwhile, three-year-old Chaila Pineda is reportedly sick again after a bypass operation at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila last March 10.

Agustin said Chaila is under medical observation following the operation as she appears to be suffering from pulmonary complications.

Chaila was born with a nerve outgrowth on her heart at the Clark Evacuation Center, she added.

She said five persons have died of leukemia at Clark since 1995, including six-year-old Crisel Valencia, who died last Feb. 25.

Agustin said the PTFBC has extended its Project Linghap to communities within the former Subic naval base.

The project's aim is to help victims of toxic wastes from the former US bases, she added.