A toxic legacy
U.S. imperialism and the Estrada regime continue to neglect the welfare of hundreds of victims of contamination by the toxic waste left behind when American troops withdrew from their former military bases in Clark and Subic in 1992.
The victims also continue to forge ranks to condemn such neglect and demand that the US and Philippine governments clean up the poison left at the bases and extend appropriate compensation to the victims.
GROWING NUMBER OF VICTIMS. Since 1995, more than 126 persons from communities within the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga and Subic Naval Base in Zambales have died due to exposure to toxic waste in the military bases. No less than 174 persons from these areas have also been documented to be suffering from serious illnesses. Most of them are afflicted with cancer.
Many of the victims are children like six-year-old Crizel Valencia, who died in July from leukemia. Crizel's family was among the victims of the Mount Pinatubo eruption resettled by the government at the Clark Air Base Command evacuation center despite the dangers posed by the contaminated water in the area. Other victims who died in July are sevenyear- old Rogelio Palo and 32-year-old Marian Basilio, both due to acute anemia and kidney disease.
Two-hundred seventy-two (272) more victims are from the evacuation center where Crizel's family was resettled. Twenty-eight (28) live in a depressed community right across the former Subic Naval Base.
QUEST FOR JUSTICE. On July 20, relatives of 300 victims filed a case against the US government and the Estrada regime, holding them accountable for their criminal negligence. The victims are demanding damages amounting to $102 billion from the US government and P52 billion from the Estrada regime. A related case will also be filed in the US.
Two-hundred (200) other victims are set to file their own case against the culpable parties. Aside from the victims of toxic waste contamination, families of civilians who were killed or wounded during training of American troops in firing ranges around Subic since the 1970s will also be among the plaintiffs. Many of these victims are impoverished folk who scavenged around the base and Aeta tribespeople who lived and hunted in the jungles where US troops trained.
Prior to this, a class suit had already been filed in 1992 by 1,000 former workers of the Ship Repair Facility at Subic Naval Base who developed asbestosis (a lung disease resulting from asbestos inhalation) after decades of stripping asbestos from US Navy ships without adequate protection.
All in all, from 1984 to 1991, there have been 1,259 cases filed against the US government by people of different countries victimized by various forms of devastation wrought by US imperialism. The combined value of damage payments sought in these class suits amounts to $25.8 billion. The $102-billion class suit filed by victims in the Philippines is by far the biggest.
SEVERE CONTAMINATION. The issue of toxic waste contamination in Clark and Subic first gained prominence in a report issued by the US General Accounting Office (US GAO) in 1992 detailing contamination of the soil and groundwater in former US military bases both at home and overseas.
Among the toxic substances found in Clark and Subic are polychlorinated biphenyl, lead and other dangerous chemicals that were merely buried in landfills; and petroleum products like the solvent benzene that leaked from a 93-kilometer pipeline connecting the two military bases and contaminated surrounding ricefields and irrigation water.
Aside from the US GAO, the US Department of Defense, World Health Organization and some private US companies have all confirmed such contamination. Studies have also indicated the unusually high incidence of leukemia and other types of cancer in communities around the base, aside from the abnormally high number of persons afflicted with diseases of the kidney, lungs, skin and nervous system and women who suffered miscarriages and stillbirths and gave birth to infants with congenital disorders.
It is estimated that 26 to 47 sites within the former US military bases are contaminated by toxic waste (at least 16 in Clark and 10 in Subic) based on studies by the government and other independent organizations.
CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE. The number of victims of toxic waste contamination is sure to rise as the US and Philippine governments continue to refuse to clean up the military bases.
It is a policy of the US Department of Defense to escape its obligation to clean up any toxic contamination discovered in its military bases in other countries after its troops have departed, claiming this to be the responsibility of the host countries' governments.
Like its imperialist master, the Estrada government has not extended any assistance to the victims. The Philippine General Hospital, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Heart Center and other government hospitals have not provided them the service they deserve allegedly due to lack of funds.
Proof of their denial of the problem and neglect of the victims' welfare is the non-coverage of military bases in an environmental protection accord signed by Estrada and US President William Clinton in July. Also useless is an executive order issued by Estrada in January ordering the formation of a task force to clean up the bases since all the latter could do is to "implore" the US to undertake the cleanup.
It is evident that US imperialism will never voluntarily face up to its responsibilities to the victims of toxic waste contamination. Not a single representative of the US or Philippine government attended the first hearing on the case filed by the 300 victims which was held in Angeles City in September. The 1992 case filed by victims of asbestosis has resulted only in "partial payments" to the victims ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Meanwhile, many of the ailing victims have died.
It is necessary to tirelessly expose, condemn and hold US imperialism and its puppet regimes accountable for their crimes against the victims of toxic waste contamination. We must link this struggle with the struggle against US imperialism and its co-conspirator, the Estrada regime, for wreaking havoc on the entire people's lives and livelihood. So must we also link this struggle with the struggle of victims in other countries and with the broad anti-imperialist movement advancing worldwide. Only the firm unity and resolute resistance of all oppressed and exploited peoples will overthrow US imperialism and mete justice to its victims.
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