HEAL Toxics, in cooperation with the International Seafarer’s Action Center Phils. Foundation Inc., conducted a forum with concerned government agencies, institutions and other non-governmental organizations last August 21, 2003, at their head office on Fil Garcia Tower, Diliman, Quezon City.

The forum was about Health and Safety of Filipino Seafarers, possible exposures to pesticides and pollutants, and chemical safety.

The speaker for the International Seafarers Action Center is Atty. Joseph Entero. He presented the national situationer for seafarers and gave us a brief overview on the present working conditions of domestic seafarers.

Dr. Rodney Hernandez gave the international situationer for seafarers. He discussed the health and safety part of the forum, raising concerns on the possible pesticide and pollutant exposure of seafarers at work especially from cargo vessels. It was apparent that many seafarers are not aware of the hazards posed by many of these vessels and that some are showing symptoms of pesticide or pollutant exposure.

A former seafarer who had an accident on board a sea vessel presented a testimony. Apparently, without any protective equipment, he was asked to perform a duty to carry certain chemicals, which suddenly exploded. The accident rendered him disabled. This, he Said, would not have happened if his employer followed health and safety standards.

The National Labor Relations Commission and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency represented the government. They gave statistics and presented sample cases on how the government helped certain overseas workers. They however admitted, that they have no precise data on the number of pesticide or chemical-related health problems.

The International Seafarers Action Center concluded the forum by forging a partnership with HEAL Toxics, government and other concerned agencies to conduct a joint research in the near future to identify harmful chemical/ pesticide exposure among seafarers. It is
indeed another significant step in promoting intergovernmental cooperation.

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HEAL Toxics, in cooperation with Health Care Without Harm, conducted an exploratory meeting with concerned government agencies, institutions and other non- governmental organizations last August 8, at the College of Public Health, University of the Philippines, Manila.

The agenda is on how the major stakeholders can work together to address health and environment problems of the country, particularly solid waste and persistent organic
pollutants.

The government was represented by Dr. Desiree Narvaez of the Department of Heath. She gave us the Philippine situationer as well us updates on the current health and environment programs being implemented by the government.

Dr. Romeo Quijano gave the international situationer. He discussed on the present global undertakings conducted by deferent organizations worldwide. He emphasized the present drive by the international community to eliminate the production of persistent organic pollutants.

The church, represented by Lou Arsenio, raised their concern on health care waste. They have noted that the country’s health care system is one of the major producers of solid waste, and at present there is no significant effort made to address this problem.

Other luminaries from the university, institutions and other health and environment organizations also attended the meeting. They have all agreed that each has a significant role to perform to address the health and environment problems of the country.

In conclusion, government admitted that they have no capability to solve all health and environment problems of the country alone. They acknowledged that the private sector as well as people’s organizations play a vital role in creating and implementing health
and environment programs. Thus, they have committed to conduct a trainer’s training starting this September to address initially solid waste disposal problems and
persistent organic pollutants. This is a significant step in coordinating government and NGO efforts to address health and environment concerns.

HEAL Toxics in cooperation with the Peasant Movement of the Philippines conducted a symposium on the Effects of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreements on the Philippine economy. It was held last Sept. 15, 2003 at the La Consolation College, Manila. The participants included students and professionals from the College, as well as other interest groups aware on how developed countries use WTO agreements to further their economic interests and impose policies which are detrimental to the economies of developing countries.

A speaker from the scientific organization AGHAM explained how WTO affects technology trends in the country. He noted that WTO favors development of technologies that makes farmers and consumers more dependent on multinational corporations. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) promotes the use of patented seed products rather than the development of organic variants that promote sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Romy Quijano from HEAL Toxics cautioned on the opening of the Philippine market to toxic pesticides. He warned that without adequate safety nets, WTO agreements may lift restrictions to the importation of these harmful products.

Mr. Danilo Ramos from the Peasant Movement of the Philippines emphasized that current WTO agreement lack safety nets to protect local farmers from large multinational agricultural producers. He said that WTO will eventually kill our local agricultural industry by flooding our market with cheap but relatively unsafe agricultural products.

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HEAL Toxics, as a member of the steering group committee on the Information Exchange Network on Capacity Building for the Sound Management of Chemicals (INFOCAP), participated in an international teleconference conducted by the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) on September 22, 2003 @ 12.00 hrs GMT. The teleconference was called upon to update the committee on current INFOCAP activities.

The participants of the teleconference include Mrs Abiol Olanipekun of Nigeria, Mr. K. Blaha of Czech Republic, Ms M Bailey of the USA, Mr M. A. Hildmann of Argentina, Dr. J. Stober, Ms. S. Bjorkquist, Mrs. Lesley Onyon, Mr. C. Boljkovac, and Mr. J. Ocana Correa of Switzerland, Dr. Dr. G. Vaagt of Italy, Dr. Rodney Hernandez of the Philippines, Dr. M. Kern and Mara Cabnoara of Germany and Mr. R.S. Agarwal of India.

Dr. M. Kern presented the report of the 3rd steering group meeting conducted last Oct. 30, 2002. Dr. Rodney Hernandez and M. R. Agarwal presented the proposed guidelines for NGOs for contributing information to INFOCAP, while Mrs. L Onyon discussed INFOCAP Promotional Strategies and Recent and upcoming events of INFOCAP, and Dr. M. Kern gave a progress report for Forum IV (Overview of proposed structure and content).

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