Labor groups urge passage of bills banning asbestos

Manila, Philippines (8 September 2010) – The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) and the Building and Woodworkers International (BWI) urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass the bills banning asbestos to minimize hazards to health and safety of workers, their families and the general public.

TUCP, ALU and BWI made the call in letters sent Monday to the Senate Committees on Trade and Commerce, Health and Demography, and Finance and the House Committee on Ecology where the bills were referred to. Senators Manny Villar, Pia Cayetano and Franklin Drilon chair the Senate Committees, respectively. The House Committee on Ecology is chaired by Representative Dan Fernandez of Laguna.

Passage of the bills has become more urgent in light of the recent World Health Organization (WHO) estimate of global asbestos-related deaths to 107,000 a year. This means that a person dies every 5 minutes because of asbestos. Deaths can be higher because these fatalities refer to only those who were exposed at work.

Unseen asbestos fibers penetrate deep into the lungs when inhaled, causing incurable and deadly diseases. Fibers come from asbestos products in houses, buildings, workplaces and materials used as roofing felts, cement roofing and flat sheets and plywood substitutes, among other things.

People at risk are workers who manufacture and use asbestos, and carpenters, construction workers, garage workers handling asbestos products. How about the people living in those houses and buildings? There were people with no traceable exposure to asbestos who got mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused only by asbestos.

The WHO states “the most efficient way to eliminate asbestos-related disease is to stop the use of all types of asbestos.” The bills seek to ban the importation, manufacture, processing, use or distribution in commerce of all types of asbestos and asbestos-containing products.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed the Senate Bill (No. 89) in 1 July 2010 at the opening of the 15th Congress. The bill was originally filed in the 13th Congress. TUCP Party List Representative Raymond Mendoza filed the House Bill (No. 896) in 6 July 2010. HB896 consolidated three bills filed at the House of Representatives in the 14th Congress.

TUCP, ALU and BWI support SBN-89 with proposed amendments and HB 896 in its entirety.