Year End Report on Philippine Base Cleanup Campaign

[ARC Ecology <arc@igc.org>]

Folks:

It gives me great pleasure to present the 1997 Year End Report for the
United States Working Group on Philippine Bases Cleanup (USWG). Despite the
set backs around the US/ Philippines Status Of Forces and Access and Cross
Servicing Agreements, we worked hard and accomplished a lot. It's a role I
think we can all be proud of. There is much still to be done, hopefully
1998 will present new opportunities to defeat the SOFA and ACSA. For now
however, on behalf of Arc Ecology and myself, I'd like to thank everyone for
a great year.

YEAR END REPORT

In 1997 the joint activities of the People's Task Force for Philippine Bases
Cleanup and the USWG accomplished the following:

>> PEOPLE'S TASK FORCE FOR BASE CLEANUP (PTFBC) SPINS OFF. Between January
and May of 1997, the campaign was spun off from Nuclear Free Philippines
Coalition. The spin-off enabled the twin efforts to concentrate more
effectively on their areas of emphasis. A new directorate was formed and its
staff expanded. Funding for the campaign was secured through the generous
contributions of Ms. Jen Vaughn of the Foundation for a Compassionate 
Society.

>> PTF MOUNTS SPEAKING AND FUNDRAISING TOUR OF U.S. Between February and
May, Ms. Myrla Baldonado, General Secretary of the Task Force, toured the
United States raising issue awareness and expanding relationships with
Filipino-American organizations and funders.

>> UNITED STATES WORKING GROUP FOR PHILIPPINE BASES CLEANUP (USWG) SENDS
ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING EQUIPMENT TO PHILIPPINES. In February USWG Technical
Committee member Prof. Paul Bloom (U. Minnesota) shipped a Purge and Trap
devise to Prof. Toby Dayrit of Ateneo University for use in ground water
sampling for the campaign.

>> USWG REP MEETS WITH PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, ELECTED OFFICIALS AND
NGOs PRESENTING ANALYSIS OF SUBIC BAY ENVIRONMENTAL BASE LINE SURVEY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.

>> USWG FINDS DOCUMENT SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERSTATES HAZARD. In March 1997, the
USWG technical committee completed its comments on the Woodward Clyde
Environmental Base Line Survey Executive Summary. Meilard Taliety and I
conducted briefings on the comments for the Task Force Board of Directors;
Senator Orly Mercado (Ch. Armed Services & Environment Committees);
Congressmember Wigberto Tanada (Ch. Foreign Relations Committee); Josephina
Estrada (Director of the Americas Department of the Department of Foreign
Affairs); Miss Angie Brabante (Head of Environmental Quality and Hazardous
Waste Manager, Environmental Management Bureau, Department of Environment
and Natural Resources); and Assistant Secretary Antonio Lopez (Department of
Health). In addition, discussions were conducted with representatives of
the Clark Development Corporation and Angeles City Councilmember Bong
Alvarez regarding obtaining copies of the Asia Star Weston Environmental
Base Line Survey for Clark Air Base for review by the USWG Technical 
Committee.

The comments on the Woodward Clyde EBS Executive Summary were presented to
the press in Manila, and received a good deal of press coverage, exerting
additional pressure on the Philippine government to pursue the issue with
the United States. Finally an updating strategy briefing packet was
forwarded to DFA to help with the ongoing bilateral discussions on US
assistance with bases cleanup.

>> USWG AND PTF COMMENT ON SECOND SUBIC BAY LOAN PACKAGE. In April, at the
request of the Task Force, members of the USWG commented on the Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority's request for a second loan package worth $40 million
from the World Bank to underwrite further development. Comments by the USWG
focus on the environmental assessment that accompanied the SBMA loan
request. Among the deficiencies found by the USWG were:
* Failure to analyze the impacts on increased auto traffic into Subic on air
quality
* Failure to analyze the impact of increased auto traffic into Subic on lead
contamination within soils along access routes, which are generally heavily
populated
* Failure to analyze the impact of increasing the population of users of
Subic on water resources in Zambales Province and nearby Olongopo City

>> PHILIPPINE FOREIGN SECRETARY RAISES BASE CLEANUP TO US SECRETARY OF
STATE. In June, Foreign Secretary Sesson brought the issue of US aid and
responsibility up in discussions with US Secretary of State Madeline
Albright. According to statements made by Deputy Foreign Affairs Secretary
Montez at a hearing before a joint session of the Philippine Congressional
Committees on Foreign Affairs and the Environment this December, Ms.
Albright expressed concern and an interest in developing a dialogue on
addressing the issue.

>> CHAIRMAN OF CLARK DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ADMITS THAT CLARK FIELD IS
CONTAMINATED BY US MILITARY TOXICS. Also in July, General David (Chair of
the Clark Development Corporation) admitted publicly for the first time that
Clark was indeed contaminated with toxic waste. Despite backtracking and
retractions that would come later, the investigations of Woodward Clyde and
Asia Star Weston were having the beneficial effect of making it difficult
for both SBMA and CDC to discount the presence of toxins at the former bases.

>> PTF AND THE NUCLEAR FREE PHILIPPINE COALITION INAUGURATE NEW BASE CLEANUP
CAMPAIGN. In July, the Task Force had its official inauguration event and
was able to successfully counter concerns raised that spinning off the base
cleanup campaign from NFPC represented a split in the movement.

>> REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SUBIC BAY METROPOLITAN AUTHORITY ADMIT THAT SUBIC
IS CONTAMINATED BY US MILITARY TOXICS. In August, SBMA admitted publicly
that the study it had undertaken of Subic Bay was limited and not designed
to characterize the toxic conditions at the site; Bishop Yniguez; that the
extent of contamination identified in their albeit limited review was still
far greater than had been previously stated; agreed to provide the Task
Force with a full set of the four volume EBS for Subic; and agreed to create
a peer review relationship with the USWG Technical Committee.

>> COMMUNITY WORKSHOP AT HOLY NAMES CREATES METRO CLARK TASK FORCE FOR BASES
CLEANUP. Also in August, a press conference/ forum at the Angeles women
center, co-sponsored by the Pampanga press club resulted in the development
of an area committee to facilitate local organizing for base cleanup in the
cities of Angeles, Mobablacat and Dau. Speakers at the event included the
Editor in Chief of the Clark Sun Odey; "Butch" Lee Administrator of the
Pampanga Convention Center, Provincial Tourism Officer, from the office of
Governor Lapid of Pampanga; Jad Dayrit City Councilmember of Mobalacat;
Myrla and myself. Over 50 residents from the Mount Pinatubo refugee center
at Clark and area residents participate in the forum.

>> USWG INVESTIGATES TOXICS AND WORKER SAFETY AT SITE OF PHILIPPINES
CENTENNIAL PAVILION. The site of the Philippines Centennial Pavilion is a
four story 150 foot in diameter circular open steel structure formerly used
by the US Air Force as a strategic listening post for radio communications
called the "Elephant Cage." Sites like this one are frequently found to be
contaminated by PCBs from transformers, lead and other heavy metals and
asbestos. There was a great deal of excavation being done at the site.
Because of heavy rains, the few workers observed at the site appeared to be
wearing wet weather gear but nothing in the way of a respirator type mask
nor any other protective clothing. Some concerns were raised that the
workers might be digging around a landfill identified in U.S. Air Force
documents as containing asbestos. According to the Air Force map the
landfill is outside the foot print of the Elephant Cage, but within the area
of the overall Centennial Pavilion.

>> PHILIPPINE FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY SESSON PRESSES UNITED STATES
SECRETARY OF STATE MADELINE ALBRIGHT AT FALL APEC MEETING. Keeping up the
pressure for a response, Foreign Affairs Secretary Sesson raised the issue
of US aid and responsibility to Madeline Albright who responded that the
issue would be taken up.

>> USWG HOLDS NATIONAL MEETING IN SAN FRANCISCO. In October, representative
from Philippine solidarity campaigns from Los Angeles, Seattle, Minneapolis,
and Washington DC converged on San Francisco for the USWG national meeting.
With telephone participation by the PTF from Manila, the meeting at Arc
Ecology's offices was the first time since 1995 the USWG met as a group in
person to discuss and set campaign priorities for the US. Priorities for
1998 include increased outreach to Filipino-American grassroots community
and veterans organizations, continued technical support for the PTF,
development of a legal strategy to force US compliance with its overseas
military base closure environmental guidances, and the creation of a
national media campaign to promote US responsibility.

>> PTF AND USWG INVESTIGATION REVEALS US MILITARY AND CORPORATE
PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT OF MILITARY BASE ASSETS IN MINDANAO'S GENERAL
SANTOS CITY. In late October, acting on reports from the Bishop of
Mindanao, PTF supporters in General Santos City reported the presence of
United States military personnel around construction sites dealing with the
development of a new very large air strip and pier extensions that are
presumed to be part of the Status of Forces and Access and Cross Servicing
Agreement now under negotiation between the US and Philippines. Corporate
profiles researched by the USWG reveal that the companies involved in the
construction projects have extensive backgrounds as Pentagon contractors
with all of the requisite experience to participate in the construction of
America's first new overseas military base in decades.

>> BARRELS OF US MILITARY TOXIC WASTE DISCOVERED IN LANDFILL OUTSIDE CLARK
AIR FIELD. In November, 27 barrels of chemicals were discovered outside of
Clark Field in a nearby landfill. Vapors from opened containers caused
respiratory and other reactions for three blocks surrounding the site
resulting in an emergency response from DENR. The Task Force coordinated an
international response to the exposure marshaling the resources from
Greenpeace whose Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner, Von Hernandez, initiated
sampling and analysis with Toby Dayrit of the Ateneo University
environmental laboratory and the Technical Committee of the USWG. The
finding of the barrels increased the public awareness and ultimately
heightened concern about the issue.

>> DEPUTY FOREIGN AFFAIRS SECRETARY MONTEZ ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF A
JOINT RP/US TASK FORCE TO INVESTIGATE US MILITARY TOXICS ON FORMER AMERICAN
BASELANDS IN THE PHILIPPINES DURING A JOINT HEARING OF PHILIPPINE
CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES ON PROGRESS OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES
ON BASE CLEANUP

At the urging of Wigberto Tanada, a member of the House Committee on
Ecology, a hearing held in December to follow-up on his resolution for US
responsibility for bases cleanup. The December hearing took place a year
after a similar meeting wherein the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Clark
Development Corporation and Department of Foreign Affairs had all denied
that there was any toxic contamination impacting the former US baselands.
This time, the administration and local reuse authorities presented a
different picture. Attending the hearing were: Congressmembers: Soccoro
Acosta (Chair, Env. Comm), Wigberto Tanada (Ecology Comm), Erasmo Damasing
(Env. Comm). Ms. Acosta chaired the meeting. Others invited to speak at
the hearing included: Deputy Foreign Secretary Montez and Josephina Estrada
Director of the Americas section of the Department of Foreign Affairs; Ms.
Angie Brabante the Environmental Quality and Hazardous Waste Manager of the
Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of the Environment and
Natural Resources; Ms. Delia Santiago and Attorney Roberto Mercado
representing the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Marivic Guina
representing the SBMA environmental contractor Woodward Clyde; Engineer
Naris Mandocdoc director of the Clark Development Corporation Environmental
Engineering Department; and Myrla Baldonado representing the PTF. I served
as the US policy analyst/ spokesperson for PTF at hearing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs representatives made the following
announcements:

A. A joint US/ RP task force was being established between counterpart
agencies to look into Philippines concerns regarding US military toxic waste
still contaminating the former baselands.
B. The although the Task Force was agreed to, there was as yet no formal
structure to the group.

C. That former US Secretary of State Christopher had in-fact promised to
help the Philippines with the issue despite later denials by both the DFA
and US DoS.

D. That the Philippines was now raising the issue with the United States at
the highest diplomatic levels possible, e.g. Foreign Secretary to Secretary
of State, President to President and that the issue was now seriously in
play, but that resolution of the concerns would take time.

>> CHRISTMAS CAROLING & PICKET AT US EMBASSY

The demonstration, was rowdy and wonderful -- good natured and full of high
spirits. Some fifty adults and children from the Mount Pinatubo Refugee
Center on Clark Air Base (CABCOM) participated in the demonstration. CABCOM
is located atop an abandoned motor pool site on Clark Air Field. Sampling
by the Philippine Department of Health found oil and grease in well water
being used for drinking, cooking, bathing and laundry. Residents of CABCOM
have been pressing for a US return to clean their water supply. The theme of
the demonstration was caroling with familiar Christmas songs such as Jingle
Bells and Feliz Navidad rewritten by the PTF staff and the folks from Clark
"wishing the Embassy, Ambassador and US a merry Christmas and a Toxic Free
new year." The caroling went on for about an hour and a half and I got a
bit of video on it for those that may want it. Angeles City Councilwoman
Susan Peneda participated in both the press conference and demonstration.

>> USWG ANALYSIS INDICATES REUSE PLAN FOR CAMP JOHN HAY OVERDRIVES SITE
CARRYING CAPACITY AND THREATENS REGIONAL

Camp John Hay, a roughly 700 acre former US Air Force R&R facility is
located at around 3,000' above sea level in a mountainous region. It sits
atop a major watershed in Benget Province and contains the last major stand
of Benget Pine trees. The Camp John Hay Development Corporation, a
quasi-governmental entity created to convert, released an Environmental
Impact Statement outline the effects of their proposed reuse plan for the
base. Here's a quick summary of the USWG analysis of the document:

A. The CJH EIS does not address the actual scope of the project. The EIS
focuses its analysis strictly on the area within the perimeter of Camp John
Hay when the majority of actual impacts will be felt outside that area.

B. The residences, vacation lodging and visitor parking will accommodate at
the most 6,000 of the planned 27,000 daily visitors to the facility
requiring that the overflow be somehow accommodated elsewhere -- presumably
Baguio. The overflow will necessitate the construction of additional
hotels, motels and rooming facilities in Baguio the impact of which is not
evaluated and will overdrive existing surface transportation pathways.

C. The EIS fails to identify potential toxic hazards from former US
military use and does an inadequate job of characterizing the presence of
toxins they did investigate.

D. The EIS incorrectly states that air pollution will not increase as a
result of the redevelopment of John Hay. Furthermore the EIS did not
evaluate the impact of the increase of air pollution on the watershed.

E. The EIS incorrectly states that water resources will not be negatively
impacted by the development.

F. The EIS fails to justify its central allegation that the proposed
development alternative is the only one that will generate the funding
needed to pay for the protection of the CJH pine forest.

G. As a result of these and other problems the document is inadequate and
should be rejected.

The Camp John Hay Alternative Development Coalition, a network of
NonGovernmental Organizations is hoping to defeat this plan and turn CJH
into a national park with no new or expanded development.

>> FAILURE TO REMOVE ASBESTOS AND OTHER HAZARDS FROM JOHN HAY STRUCTURES
THREATENS HEALTH OF UNPROTECTED DEMOLITION WORKERS.

A tour of three demolition sites, the Half Way House, the Mile High Club
and the Gym, revealed mounds of construction debris which included asbestos
containing floor and roof tiles. The Gym was in the process of being torn
down. As is typical in the Philippines, none of the workers wore any form
of respirator and because of the perennial water shortage around Baguio and
John Hay the deconstruction area was not being wetted down. About half a
dozen workers tore down building walls creating great quantities of dust,
possibly contaminated with lead and asbestos.

5. SUMMARY

1997 has been an extremely productive year for the campaign. The PTF has
done a superb job under the direction of Myrla Baldonado in keeping the
issue in the public's eye and keeping up the momentum of the campaign. Under
Myrla's direction, local participation in mass mobilizations and in meetings
have increased. Also the decision of the International Forum on US Military
Toxics and Bases Clean-up to come up with a home page was recently
implemented courtesy of: Mr. Tatsuaki Oshiro, Okinawa Peace and Environment
Network. The address is: http://www.psdn.org.ph/basecln/homebase.htm. The
Web page is a forum for joint action, info sharing to strengthen US
responsibility in clean up of overseas bases.

The USWG's efforts as a solidarity organization really shows what people can
achieve even without a huge amount of resources. Despite the lack of
staffing (outside of the very part time administrative support provided by
Arc) and the complete lack of foundation funding for USWG activities, the
USWG has managed to make a number of significant contributions toward
advancing the cause of Philippine bases cleanup. The creation of the joint
RP-US bilateral task force was one of the recommendations presented in the
strategy briefing paper that USWG members Jorge Emmanuel, Nick Morgan and I
prepared for President Ramos on behalf of the Task Force.

Nevertheless while congratulations are in order, much remains to be done.
To illustrate that point I'd like to share an observation from my December
trip to the Philippines.

In December 1997 I made my tenth visit to the Philippines. Having spent a
cumulative year in the Philippines since 1994, I was well acquainted with
the myriad of sanitary, environmental and housing/ employment problems
associated with the country. I knew what I was in for when I visited the
dump where the barrels of abandoned US military waste was kept.
Nevertheless, dumps in the Philippines can be challenging to all but the
most hardened outside observers, there is no way to really be prepared..
The stench is extreme and the eyes tear from the mounds of garbage burning
in the open air. Among the heaps of garbage are the homes of families who
live on the Dumps and find their livelihoods there.

By the time I saw the barrels, the contents were mostly gone. The site
selected by the Philippine Department of the Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) for storing the hazardous materials was an open shell of
what appeared to be a former garage at one end of the dump. The building was
open on three sides and there was a significant amount of oily staining on
the dirt floor. A kitten of about six weeks was stumbling about near the
barrels, looking quite ill and not long for this world -- although we of
course cannot ascribe any causal relationship between its health and the
contaminants at the site without analysis!!! A small cardboard sign was
left on the floor of the building saying "do not enter" but no one seemed
to pay any attention.

While a few of the barrels were wrapped in plastic (much of which was torn),
the majority were simply exposed and most were empty. From the worn
stenciled markings, the majority appeared to be US DoD issue. A number of
smaller 5 gallon drums were strewn about, both in the storage area and also
in the dump proper. These smaller drums apparently contained tars, paints
and solvents. As with the other drums, these were broken and the majority
of their contents had already leaked out. What hadn't leaked out caked into
a black solid plastic looking mass. Less than three feet from the drums was
a small shelter that housed a father and three young children. Kids under
five years of age played half naked among the drums.

As I think about that experience I can't help but remember that one hundred
years ago this year, the United States destroyed the first democratically
elected government in Asia and replaced it with a series of puppet
governments whose elites grew wealthy on the suffering of the people.
Today, the United States has once again muscled the Philippines into
military treaties that impinge on that nation's sovereignty. One
particularly egregious clause of the SOFA protects American service persons
who commit a crime while on duty in the Philippines from being tried there,
no matter how severe the crime might be. The American's involved in the
negotiation seem to have forgotten that a similar situation became one of
the grievances that enflamed our own revolution against Great Britain two
centuries ago. Perhaps over the past two hundred years we have grown too
much like the Britain of yesteryear to appreciate the irony. To me however,
on that very hot December day under a bright blue sky made gray by burning
garbage, peering down on barrels of abandoned US military chemicals, the
irony was very clear. The treaties were supposed to protect the interests of
both nations but no one was thinking about the consequences of their actions
on these children. DENR clearly botched this jobs and apparently could not
have cared less about the situation. Neither could the US for that matter,
which also did nothing to recover the barrels. Like people, nations are
what they create. I have video tape of this little bit of purgatory if
anyone cares for a copy.

I hope this report is a good close on the year's activities and I look
forward to an even more effective campaign in 1998.