Greenpeace launches anti-cancer drive

Environmentalists led by Greenpeace have launched a campaign against the open burning of garbage, which has been identified as a significant source of cancer-causing pollutants.

Dubbed "Patay Siga Kontra Kanser," the campaign was launched recently in Smokey Mountain in Tondo, where open burning of garbage is widespread despite the prohibitions of Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Waste Management Act.

During the launch, piles of burning garbage were put out by members of the Quezon City Firefighters Volunteer Association, who also helped the eco-activists educate residents about the dangers of open burning.

Convenor of the Eco-Waste Coalition Von Hernandez said that instead of reducing pollution, burning transforms garbage "into a deadly air pollution menace which will eventually haunt us in the form of various respiratory disorders and increasing rates of cancer."

Among the pollutants produced by the burning of garbage are arsenic, lead, benzene, cadmium, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and cancer-causing dioxins.

Hernandez challenged government agencies like the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to address the problem of open burning.

"The legal prohibition against open burning was intended precisely to address the pollution problems caused by this practice. However, we would like to see government agencies like the MMDA and the various local government units implement the prohibition seriously," he said.

Hernandez said that open burning is also discouraged by the Stockholm Treaty, which the Philippines ratified in February.

Adopted in May 2001, the treaty seeks to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and initially targets 12 substances for priority action, including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), aldrin, dieldrin, hepachlor, chlordane, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, heptachlor and toxaphene.

Hernandez said that the Stockholm Treaty is now considered legally binding after receiving the required 50 ratifications from member countries. Parties to the treaty are required to use methods and processes which do not generate POPs.

He said that 59 countries have ratified the treaty, with France being the 50th signatory last February. Treaty rules provide for the treaty to become effective 90 days after the 50th instrument of ratification.