SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

PRESS RELEASE
16 September 2014
Angelica Carballo
angelica@bantoxics.org/09989595785

Groups support Santiagos resolution against toxic waste dumping in PHL;
calls for Basel Ban Amendment ratification intensified

16 September 2014, Manila Environmental justice group BAN Toxics (BT) and the Ateneo School of
Government (ASoG) announced their emphatic support for the resolution filed by Sen. Miriam Defensor-
Santiago calling for proactive measures to prevent toxic waste from other countries being dumped in the
Philippines.

The resolution also calls for the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment, an amendment to the Basel
Convention, which bans the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes from developed to lesser
developed countries that are destined for disposal or recycling.

Once again Sen. Miriam is leading the charge on this issue. Sec. Paje and the DENR establishment
should be ashamed. Back in 2007 during the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement joint
committee hearing, she recommended the ratification of the Basel Ban to the DENR. 7 years later, shes
still at it and the DENR still has its head stuck in the sand, stated BT executive director Atty. Richard
Gutierrez.

BT and ASoG released a study entitled Demystifying the Impacts of a Basel Ban Amendment Ratification
by the Philippines
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last March, which dispels the major concerns of industry and other sectors that the
ratification of the Ban Amendment will have adverse impacts to the Philippine economy.

The perceived negative impacts of the Basel Ban Amendment to the Philippine economy is based on
fear-mongering and is without basis. The Ateneo School of Government has prepared a well thought of
study that debunks the myth around the resistance to the Basel Ban Amendment, Gutierrez added.

The study focuses on the economic, environmental, and health impacts of the hazardous waste recycling
activities in order to aid in policy making in determining the acceptability of the Basel Ban Amendment.
The study relied, in part, on trade import data from the United Nations Commodity Trade database (UN
Comtrade) to assess Philippine imports of toxic waste for a period of 10 years and case studies to assess
the impact of the Basel Ban Amendment.

The prevailing trade data as well as empirical evidence on the ground show no reason why the
Philippines should continue to withold its ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment. The gravity of this
toxic waste problem cannot be denied, and we, as an independent country, should assert our rights against
these foreign threat, said Atty. Arvin Jo of ASoG.




SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT


Toxic wastes from other countries have exposed Filipinos to a number of health and environmental risks.
In 1999 toxic waste from Japan was intercepted in Manila and just recently, the Canadian container vans
holding hazardous wastes that were intercepted by the Bureau of Customs. Until now, the Canadian waste
shipment is still lodged at the Port of Manila, more than a year after the first batch of garbage arrived on
Philippine shores.

Hazardous wastes comes in many form including e-waste and other garbage such as medical wastes, and
clinical wastes that include a toxic brew of mercury, lead, cadmium, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
(PBDEs) and Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs), to name a few. According to the UN Comtrade, 4.7
million tons of hazardous waste have been shipped by developed to lesser developed countries from 1998
to 2008. Not only is public health and environmental integrity at stake, the latest toxic waste dumping has
also exposed a growing traffic problem in the Manila port terminal.

BT and ASoG hope that Sen. Santiagos resolution can finally jumpstart the ratification process that has
long been dragged by the DENR since 1995.

We not only need to send a clear signal to the rest of the world the Philippines is not a dumping ground,
but it seems that we need to send the clear signal as well to the President and his cabinet that the
Philippines should be nobodys dumpsite, Gutierrez ended.

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BAN Toxics! is an independent non-government environmental organization focused on the advancement
of environmental justice, children's health, and toxics elimination. Working closely with partner
communities and other NGOs in both the local and international levels, BAN Toxics! endeavors to reduce
and eliminate the use of harmful toxins through education campaigns, training and awareness-raising,
and policy-building and advocacy programs. BAN Toxics acknowledges the support of the Swedish
Society for Nature Conservation in its work on global chemicals management issues.

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A copy of the study Demystifying the Impacts of a Basel Ban Amendment Ratification by the Philippines can be downloaded at
www.bantoxics.org