Philippines's Update

[Aimee Houghton <aimeeh@cpeo.org>]

The substance of this dialogue has not yet been independently
verified as of this posting.
--Aimee Houghton

Monday, April 13, 1998
Manila, Philippine's BusinessWorld

 Toxic clean-up issue settled, Ramos says

 President Fidel Ramos and US President William
"Bill"
 Clinton have ordered the immediate removal of
toxic
 wastes left by the US military at its former
installations in
 Subic and Clark. In his arrival speech yesterday
morning,
 Mr. Ramos said both he and Mr. Clinton agreed to
 expedite the clean-up of Subic and Clark during
their
 one-on-one meeting at the White House's Oval
Office in
 Washington D. C. last Saturday. "We agreed to
direct the
 RP-US joint task force on toxic waste to actively
work
 with the private sector in the early clean-up of
 contaminated areas in Subic and Clark," Mr. Ramos
said.
 The clean-up of the two former US bases was not
 included in the original agenda for the
Ramos-Clinton
 meeting. In a interview prior to Mr. Ramos's
departure for
 the US last Monday, Press Secretary Hector
Villanueva
 said the issue was not among the talking points
during the
 one-on-one. But the two leaders did tackle the
issue and
 order the joint task force to take immediate
action.
 Environment activists have aired concern that the
 unresolved issue of cleaning up toxic wastes in
Subic and
 Clark is being "swept under the showcase rug" by
both
 Manila and Washington so as not to scare away
investors.
 Meanwhile, Mr. Ramos said that during the meeting,
he
 secured the commitment of Mr. Clinton for the
return of
 one of the two Balangiga bells, the upliftment of
the
 welfare of some 70,000 Filipino World War II
veterans,
 and the improved access of local products to the
US
 market. He said that Mr. Clinton pledged to exert
his "best
 efforts" to convince military authorities to
return one of
 the bells, which are now in Wyoming. American
soldiers
 in 1901 seized the bells from the town of
Balangiga in
 Eastern Samar as a "war booty".

--
Aimee Houghton
Program Coordinator
The Center for Public Environmental Oversight (formerly CAREER/PRO)
425 Market Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
tel: (415) 904-7750; fax: (415) 904-7765
Email: aimeeh@cpeo.org

A Program of the San Francisco Urban Institute