Philippines: Statement on asbestos delivered five levels below the ground

10 December 2010: Manila, Philippines – Five levels below the ground. It was not a bomb shelter. The messengers were not carrying a bomb although their message was to defuse a different kind of bomb. It was the receiving section of the Canadian Embassy. Or so it was said.

The Associated Labor Unions (ALU), Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), ALLWEIS (informal sector workers organization) and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) tried to deliver a statement against mining and exporting asbestos and the opening of an underground mine in Quebec, Canada, and get a brief response to it from the Embassy. The statement was in support of the Asian Delegation to Quebec appealing against the opening of the Jeffrey underground mine.

They delivered the statement. But the Embassy is on levels 6-8, above the ground!

In the receiving section

ALU, BWI, ALLWEIS and TUCP did not get a response either. The receiving section was a small room in a parking basement with glass walls covered by window blinds. The statement had to be inserted in an opening. The light inside the room switched on, the statement went inside and the signed receiving copy returned. A message on the glass said no asking of questions.

Out of nowhere came out a snappy-looking Canadian male in his early 20s. He walked fast to the ‘messengers’ despite carrying a fully-loaded back pack. He asked to confirm about the picture-taking at the Canadian emblem, said goodbye when told that it was for a souvenir and disappeared into the dim-lit receiving room.

Guarded

Going down five levels below the ground was not a walk in the park. Security guards initially barred activists, dressed in yellow t-shirts with slogans “Canada, close Jeffrey asbestos mine!” and “Asbestos kills! Ban Asbestos!”, from entering the building that houses the Canadian Embassy. The guards finally let two people deliver the statement after negotiation. A guard accompanied them, even in going to the toilet!

The activists showed their banners at the entrance to the building while three of their colleagues were negotiating with the guards. Additional guards came out of the building to keep an eye on them. The group dispersed after discussing what happened in the receiving section. And the guards went back to their comfort zones.

Defusing Canada’s time bomb

Thousands of people die every year from diseases caused by exposure to asbestos at work including in the building trades. Due to its long latency period, (sometimes over 30 years) the asbestos-related diseases are a ticking time bomb that will continue to kill for many more years.

Canada has the opportunity and responsibility to end the deadly asbestos legacy. Closing the asbestos mines, including Jeffery Mine, in Quebec will stop future exposure to the deadly chrysotile, minimizing the rise of deaths of innocent workers and their families and defusing the Canada time bomb.