CEBU, Philippines – A bill that prohibits the importation, manufacture, processing, use or distribution of asbestos, which is commonly used in shipping and construction industries, has been filed in Congress last week.
House Bill 6544, or the Ban Asbestos Act of 2009, also seeks the demolition of buildings containing asbestos, conduct of public education, institutionalization of health and safety program, and creation of an inter-agency technical advisory council.
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Representative Raymond C. Mendoza, the author of the bill, wants the Department of Health to conduct a study on asbestos.
Asbestos poses high risk of contaminating exposed workers because the fibers deeply penetrated into the lungs when inhaled. Even their families are at risk.
The International Association for Research on Cancer classified asbestos as the highest cancer-hazard substance. Diseases associated with asbestos include lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis with a latency period of 10 to 40 years.
Most exposed workers are those in shipping (shipbuilding, ship repair, ship breaking, and boiler work) and those in building and construction (plumbers, insulators, carpenters, pipe fitters, electricians, autoworkers, insulators, sheet metal workers, and other construction workers).
The public is also at risk because of exposure to houses, buildings and workplaces built with asbestos-containing materials. — Johanna T. Natavio/LPM (THE FREEMAN)
July 2025
Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
July
3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 July – International Plastic Bag Free Day
5 July – World Youth Skills Day
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day
17 July – World Day for International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Monthly Observances:
Schools Safety Month
Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week
Daily Observances:
First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines
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