Temperature Check

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia and the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) International Collegiate Service Fraternity at the University of the Philippines-Diliman raise temperature with the latter’s yearly Oblation Run. Bystanders are encouraged to check their temperature with the mercury-free dot matrix thermometer that they gave out along with the traditional long-stemmed rose.

Mercury Watch Series: TEMPERATURE CHECK: UP APO AND HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM RAISE TEMPERATURE

December 16, 2008

Mercury Watch Series:
TEMPERATURE CHECK: UP APO AND HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM RAISE TEMPERATURE

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia and the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) International Collegiate Service Fraternity in the University of the Philippines-Diliman raise temperature with the latter’s yearly Oblation Run at the University and encourage bystanders to check their temperature with the mercury-free dot matrix thermometer that they gave out along with the traditional long-stemmed rose.

“As a tradition, APO carries several issues during the run. This is not just a parade of naked men running. We raise issues and raise people’s awareness.” AJ Verceles, APO-Eta Chapter Grand Chancellor said. “This year, we even raised temperature.”

Among the issues carried by APO is HCWH-SEA’s Mercury Watch Campaign. The Campaign is the group’s countdown to the Department of Health’s (DoH) Administrative Order 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine health care facilities and institutions.

Several men were carrying Mercury-Free RP and First, Do No Harm banners to show APO-Eta’s support to the mercury phase-out campaign. Earlier last week, APO-Eta Chapter and HCWH-SEA launched a Campaign Video and exhibit at the University’s AS Walk. Both materials talked about the dangers of mercury in health care.

“Through this run, we hope that APO-Eta will help raise the mercury phase-out issue to the consciousness of the people. We now have AO 21 mandating this phase-out, we need to watch every step along the way to 2010,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for Mercury.

“Countries around the world have proven that switching to mercury alternatives is feasible. US, members of the European Union, and Latin America have banned mercury thermometers and other equipments that use mercury. In the Philippines, the Philippine Heart Center is the first to switch to non-mercury alternatives,” she added.

“In the US, you cannot buy a mercury thermometer and mercury blood pressure devices are on their way out. This is the 2010 goal,” Ferrer pointed out.

Verceles said that although the mercury issue is just one of the five issues carried in this year’s run, “all of them deserve our immediate attention. And we believe that this run has indeed raised not just temperature but awareness.”

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH GROUP URGES APO ALUMNI IN HEALTH CARE TO SUPPORT MERCURY WATCH CAMPAIGN

December 13, 2008

Mercury Watch Series:
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH GROUP URGES APO ALUMNI IN HEALTH CARE TO SUPPORT MERCURY WATCH CAMPAIGN

Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia urges APO alumni who are now working in hospitals and health care system setting to support the Mercury Watch Campaign recently launched at the University of the Philippines-Diliman in cooperation with APO-Eta Chapter.

“The Mercury Watch Campaign, which is our countdown to the Department of Health’s (DoH) Administrative Order 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine hospitals and health care facilities by 2010, aims to gather support from both medical and non-medical practitioners,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer.

“APO-Eta Chapter is helping us raise awareness to the issue. We believe that the APO alumni who are now in the health care field may take on the role of inside watchers being the ones directly inside hospital set-up,” she explained.

She added that occupational safety is among the issues raised by doctors, nurses and other health care workers around the world for the urgency of the move to replace mercury with alternatives. Danger to people, wildlife and the environment, availability of alternatives and financial considerations/clean-up cost are the other factors.

AJ Verceles, APO-Eta Chapter Grand Chancellor, on the other hand said “the Mercury Watch Campaign is an issue that we would like to be a part of. This mercury phase-out in health care facilities and institutions, although unknown to many, is an issue that warrants our immediate attention.”

He added, “Medical practitioners and other hospital workers are the ones who will greatly benefit from the campaign and the phasing-out of mercury.”

“Unfortunately, they are the same ones on the losing end if we do not certify this campaign as urgent,” Ferrer added.

AO 21 signed by the DoH in August 11, 2008 mandates all hospitals to immediately discontinue the distribution of mercury thermometers in the patient’s admission/discharge kits. It requires all hospitals to follow the guidelines for the gradual phase-out of mercury in two years and all health care facilities to have a Mercury Minimization Progam.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

Temperature Rising. UP at 102, APO at 85 and a Mercury-Free RP health care by 2010. Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia, together with the University of the Philippines Diliman-based APO-Eta Chapter launches Mercury Watch Campaign exhibit at the AS Walk of UP. The campaign will serve as a countdown to the Department of Health’s (DoH) gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine hospitals and health care facilities by September 11, 2010, as stipulated in the DoH Administrative Order 21.

Mercury Watch Series: UPD’s APO HEATS UP ENVI-HEALTH GROUP’S MERCURY WATCH

Mercury Watch Series:
UPD’s APO HEATS UP ENVI-HEALTH GROUP’S MERCURY WATCH

“It is time we take an issue that is important not just to the youth but to the rest of humanity,” said AJ Verceles, APO-Eta Chapter Grand Chancellor, as they help launch Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia’s Mercury Watch Campaign.

The Mercury Watch Campaign, which will be launched in APO’s weeklong anniversary celebration is HCWH-SEA’s countdown to the Department of Health’s (DoH) gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine hospitals and health care facilities by 2010.

“The Campaign will serve as the watchdog for the implementation of DoH Administrative Order 21 mandating this phase-out,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for Mercury.

AO 21 which was signed in August 11, 2008 mandates all hospitals to discontinue the distribution of mercury thermometers in the patient’s admission/discharge kits. Further, it requires all hospitals to follow the guidelines for the gradual phase-out of mercury in two years.

Another salient provision of the AO is the requirement to all new health care facilities applying for a license to operate to submit an inventory of all mercury-containing devices that will be used in their facilities and a corresponding mercury elimination program.

The AO also mandates that all other health care facilities other than hospital shall make a Mercury Minimization Program.

“We hope that thru the AO, the phase-out of mercury containing devices will speed-up and thus make the 2010 deadline a reality,” said Ferrer.

“That is where APO comes in. We hope to help raise awareness of the issue not just here in the University but to the whole country. We believe that the mercury is a global issue and it is not just about health. It is about the environment and our future,” said Verceles.

The launch of the campaign starts with HCWH-SEA’s first two Campaign Videos which is first shown at the University of the Philippines-Diliman APO-Eta Chapter Weeklong Anniversary Celebration. The video is simultaneously broadcasted at HCWH international meeting in Jaipur, India attended by international organizations all working towards the phase-out of mercury.

The Campaign Video directed by Rosela Sartaguda, Make the Switch, features VJ Juddha Paolo talking about the dangers of mercury in health care. The second, First, Do No Harm, reminds medical practitioners of their Hippocratic Oath: To first, do no harm.

Juddha Paolo is a spoken word artist, actor and TV and events host. He is a co-producer of Isang Lahi: Pearls from the Orient film to be released on the Spring of 2008.

Rosela Sartaguda is a freelance copy writer, interior designer and an independent filmmaker.

Video is available upon request.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

Health Care Without Harm, WHO Announce Partnership for Global Reduction of Mercury-Based Medical Devices

— New Delhi, December 6, 2008, Health Care Without Harm and the World Health Organization yesterday launched a global partnership to substitute mercury-based medical devices with safer, accurate and affordable alternatives.

The announcement came during the opening of the South Asian Conference on Alternatives to Mercury in Health Care, an event sponsored by the two organizations and the Indian NGO Toxics Link.

“This initiative aims to replace no less than 70 percent of all mercury thermometers and blood pressure devices around the world with digital and aneroid alternatives within the decade” said Alexander von Hildebrand, Regional Adviser for Chemical Safety for WHO’s South East Asia Regional Office. “It is our goal to significantly reduce the threat posed by mercury spills to patient and worker health, as well as the global environment.”

Several countries have already taken steps to mandate safer, accurate and affordable alternatives to mercury-based medical devices. It is virtually impossible to find a mercury thermometer in the United States today, while the European Union has banned them outright, as has Taiwan. The Philippines has mandated a phase-out of all mercury medical devices over the next two years, while hundreds of hospitals in Latin America—from Mexico to Brazil to Argentina are moving toward alternatives.

“This Partnership is a vehicle for health care leaders, government officials, NGOs and private sector participants from around the world to join forces in support of environmental health,” said Josh Karliner, International Coordinator for Health Care Without Harm. “Anyone committed to mercury elimination in health care can join via the Partnership website, www.mercuryfreehealthcare.org .”

The Partnership is based on both WHO and HCWH’s ongoing efforts for substitution of mercury-based medical devices. It is also a component of the UN Environment Programme Mercury Products Partnership and led by the USA Environmental Protection Agency.

At the Delhi conference, health care sector leaders from across India and neighboring countries, along with experts from around the world are gathered to share experiences and learn more on how to make the switch. Organizers have also convened business leaders and aid agencies to discuss bolstering production of the non-mercury devices. “The conference is an important step for India to begin playing a leadership role in this essential global initiative,” said conference host Ravi Agarwal, Director of Toxics Link.

End.


Health Care Without Harm is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in the health care sector.

The World Health Organisation, the international agency within the United Nations system responsible for health, has a number of programmes that address the threats posed by environmental pollutants providing information and guidelines for risk assessment and management, for preventing human exposure and for improving the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance of health effects.


For more information on the Partnership see: www.mercuryfreehealthcare.org

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN HEALTH CARE, OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGED TO FOLLOW SUIT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 27, 2008

Contact:

Sonia G. Astudillo, Communications Officer, + 63 918 9182369, sonia@hcwh.org

Faye Ferrer, Program Officer for Mercury, + 63 920 9327151, faye@hcwh.org

WORLD MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN HEALTH CARE, OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGED TO FOLLOW SUIT

Manila - Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia commends the World Medical Association (WMA) for unanimously passing a resolution calling for the phase-out of mercury in health care and urges health professional organizations in the Southeast Asian region to follow suit.

“WMA’s support is showing all hospitals and health care facilities around the world that this is doable and that eventually this is the way to go to for all health care systems,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for Mercury, referring to WMA Resolution signed at the General Assembly in Seoul, Korea in October.

“The resolution cited that although the initial rationale for instituting voluntary mercury replacement initiatives is for occupational and environmental safety, ultimately the motive will be financial considerations,” Ferrer added.

She explained that mercury-free alternatives are “so much cheaper once mercury clean-up costs are taken into consideration.”

WMA’s resolution recommended global, regional/national and local strategies to reduce both supply and demand of mercury in the health care sector. r global strategy, WMA and member national medical associations are urged to advocate for the United Nations (UN) and individual governments to voluntarily cooperate in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Mercury Programme.

For regional and national strategies, national medical associations are encouraged to advocate for government support to reduce risk related to mercury in the environment.

“A good example of a national initiative is that of the Philippines’ Department of Health (DoH) Administrative Order 21 mandating the gradual phase-out of all mercury containing devices in all hospitals and health care facilities by 2010,” said Ferrer.

The AO signed in August 11, 2008 mandates all hospitals to immediately discontinue the distribution of mercury thermometers in the patient’s admission/discharge kits and follow the guidelines for the gradual phase-out of mercury in two years.

Physicians, on the other hand, are encouraged to take the lead role in the local strategy by eliminating mercury-containing products in their offices, ensuring that local hospitals and medical facilities have a plan to identify mercury sources in their workplace and a commitment to phase-out mercury containing devices and switch to alternatives.

“The resolution looks simple but it will take support from all stakeholders to make it work,” said Ferrer.

“For our part, HCWH-SEA will continue to work with national medical associations in the region and urge them to take the lead in the mercury phase-out.”

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that affects the nervous system. It is fatal when inhaled and harmful if absorbed through the skin. High doses of vapors released by thermometer breakage may cause lung damage. While at lower doses it is harmful to the kidney and the nervous, digestive, respiratory and immune systems.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

Copy of the resolution may be downloaded at:

http://www.noharm.org/globalsoutheng.

OSPITAL NG MAYNILA TO BE THE SHOWCASE HOSPITAL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA—HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM

November 11, 2008

OSPITAL NG MAYNILA TO BE THE SHOWCASE HOSPITAL IN SOUTHEAST ASIA—HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM

Manila – Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia sees Ospital ng Maynila in the Philippines to be one of the model hospitals in Southeast Asia in terms of proper health care waste management, employing appropriate non-incineration treatment technologies and joining other hospitals around the world in using mercury-free devices.

Ospital ng Maynila, built in the 60s is located in the capital city of the country. It is one of the four hospitals owned and operated by the city of Manila.

According to Merci Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Executive Director, Ospital ng Maynila having been chosen as one of the model facility in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Project “Demonstrating and Promoting Best Techniques and Practices for Reducing Health Care Waste to Avoid Environmental Releases of Dioxins and Mercury” will be one of the recipient hospitals in the country to benefit from the trainings on proper health care waste management and new alternative waste treatment facility.

UNDP GEF is a 3-year project that aims to demonstrate and promote best practices and techniques for health care waste management to minimize or eliminate releases of persistent organic pollutants and mercury to the environment in eight selected countries—Argentina, India, Latvia, Lebanon, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania and Vietnam. It will likewise demonstrate the effectiveness of non-burn health care waste treatment technologies.

“The disposal of healthcare waste, the release of highly toxic and cancer-causing pollutants from incineration and the dangers of mercury are problems facing countries all over the world,” said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, Chief Technical Advisor for GEF. “Through the UNDP GEF project, Ospital ng Maynila will become a showcase for the Southeast Asian region.”

Ferrer added “The Philippine Clean Air Act which banned the use of medical waste incinerators as early as July 2003 and the Department of Health’s (DoH) Administrative Order 2008-0021 mandating the gradual phase-out of all mercury-containing devices in all Philippine hospitals and health care facilities by 2010 will both serve as a strong groundwork for the GEF.”

She added “HCWH has been very consistent in its global call and campaign to phase-out mercury in health care. We believe that through modeling, which is the thrust of the UNDP GEF, hospitals all over SEA and all over the world will see the urgency, as well as feasibility of the campaign.”

Under the UNDP GEF, a Memorandum of Agreement will be signed between the model hospital, the city government and the GEF Global Project Team to allow installation of a new alternative waste treatment system, replace mercury devices with non-mercury, institutionalize a good health care waste management system, train all members of the staff, document the improvements and showcase the hospital as a model health facility.

“A major expectation from Ospital ng Maynila is for them to sustain the model facility after the UNDP GEF project ended and to help replicate the model in other hospitals,” said Emmanuel.

“On the last year of the project, we hope that the example of Ospital ng Maynila will help replicate the best environmental practices and best technologies to other hospitals in Manila, the country and eventually in the SEA region,” he added.

The project in the Philippines targets two hospitals—an urban and a rural hospital. Details of a provincial hospital in Region 1 are still being worked out.

HCWH-SEA, a major cooperating agency to the Project, recommended Philippines to be included in the Project because of the strength of the HCWH network and office based in Manila.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH GROUP CALLS ON RP TO LEAD MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

October 23, 2008

Contact:
Sonia G. Astudillo, Communications Officer, 0918 9182369, sonia@hcwh.org
Faye Ferrer, Program Officer for Mercury, 0920 9327151, faye@hcwh.org
Josh Karliner, International Team Coordinator, josh@hcwh.org

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH GROUP CALLS ON RP TO LEAD MERCURY PHASE-OUT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia today launches “End of an Era,” a report documenting the US healthcare sector’s success at replacing the “acutely toxic and globally polluting” mercury blood pressure measuring devices (sphygmomanometers) with alternatives and encourages the Philippines to lead the Southeast Asian region in the global mercury phase-out.

“Philippines is leading the way for its Southeast Asian neighbors and other developing countries with the recent signing of the Department of Health (DoH) Administrative Order mandating the phase-out of mercury-containing devices in all Philippine health care facilities by 2010,” said Josh Karliner, International Team Coordinator of HCWH and a co-author of the report.

The report released in September is intended for Europe audience to push for the immediate phase-out of mercury sphygmomanometers but is also relevant for the rest of the world US and Europe have both phased-out mercury thermometers but the report shows that US is well out in front of Europe when it comes to mercury column sphygmomanometers—the largest reservoir of mercury in health care. The European Union scientific committee is set to assess the accuracy of alternative devices this Fall.

“Everywhere around the world, people are recognizing the urgent need to phase-out mercury. The risk to people, wildlife and the environment is an acknowledged fact. The Philippines may very well take precedent in the US’s,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Coordinator for Mercury.

Karliner added that the US health care sector has proven that the mercury blood pressure measurement is accurate and safe for human health and the environment.

“Considering that alternatives give the same result minus the hazards, it is affordable even in Philippine setting,” Ferrer pointed out.

Deploying a series of letters from leading US health care systems, the report documents how several major US health providers have completely phased-out mercury-based sphygmomanometers and have had little, if any problem with the alternatives-- digital and aneroid blood pressure cuffs.

Once ubiquitous in the US health care setting, today mercury is increasingly hard to find in US hospitals. The report notes that similar change is also taking place in other parts of the world—from Argentina to South Africa.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, threatening the health of patients and health care workers alike. When released into the environment, this hazardous chemical also bio accumulates in fish all around the world, undermining global public health.

The report is available at:
http://www.noharm.org/details.cfm?type=document&id=2030

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

INTERNATIONAL GROUP WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF MERCURY TO HOSPITALS

October 15, 2008

Contact:

Sonia G. Astudillo, Communications Officer, 0918 9182369, sonia@hcwh.org

Faye Ferrer, Program Officer for Mercury, 0920 9327151, faye@hcwh.org

INTERNATIONAL GROUP WARNS OF THE DANGERS OF MERCURY TO HOSPITALS

Baguio City – Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia in a forum on the gradual phase-out of mercury in all Philippine health care facilities and institutions talks of the merits of the phase-out emphasizing why this should be a priority program in all hospitals.

“On top of the Administrative Order, which mandates all hospitals to immediately discontinue the distribution of mercury thermometers in the patients’ admission/discharge kits, is the danger that all mercury-containing devices pose to patients as well as to the nurses, doctors and other health workers,” said Faye Ferrer, HCWH-SEA Program Office for Mercury.

AO 2008-0021 signed last August by the Department of Health (DoH) will require all hospitals to follow the guideline for the gradual phase-out of mercury in two years. Another salient provision is the requirement to all new health care facilities applying for a license to operate to submit an inventory of all mercury-containing devices that will be used in their facilities and a corresponding mercury elimination program.

“Occupational hazard, danger to people, wildlife and the environment are substantial reasons to phase-out mercury,” Ferrer pointed out.

The forum organized by HCWH-SEA, DoH-Cordillera Administrative Region and St. Louis University (SLU) Hospital of the Sacred Heart in Baguio aims to gather the support of all of the region’s hospital in this phase-out.

According to Malou Jacinto, Administrator of SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart, “shift to mercury alternative is our only solution considering the cost of cleaning up mercury spills in hospitals and the insurmountable diseases it poses to anyone who enters hospital facilities or anyone who inhales air with mercury.”

Mercury inhaled as vapor and absorbed through the lungs may cause tremors, emotional changes (mood swings, irritability, nervousness, excessive shyness), insomnia, neuromuscular changes (weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching), headaches, disturbances in sensations, changes in nerve responses, performance deficits on tests of cognitive function. Higher exposure may cause kidney defects, respiratory failure and death. [1]

Ferrer pointed out that the shift to mercury alternatives is “doable, affordable and is economically-feasible.” She cited that even before the signing of the AO, more than fifty hospitals in the Philippines have either phased-out or is in the process of phasing-out mercury. First of these hospitals is the Philippine Heart Center in Metro Manila and SLU Hospital of the Sacred Heart in Baguio City.

“This for us is the true essence of providing health care—a health care that is safe to the people and less toxic to the environment,” she added.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org. (30)

---

[1] Accessed on August 6, 2008 from http://www.epa.gov/mercury/effects.htm#content

Civil society groups urge Congress to adopt people's alternative budget proposal

October 10, 2008

Refer to : Prof. Leonor Briones

Contact Nos. : 09175359884

Civil society groups urge Congress to adopt people's alternative budget proposal

"Protect the poor from the economic slowdown." This is the call of orange-clad members of the Alternative Budget Initiative (ABI) members as they trooped to the House of Representatives Session Hall Lobby holding orange umbrellas as symbols of protection for millions of poor Filipinos.

Members of the ABI campaign, which is globally recognized as one of the best practices in budget advocacy, attended the last day of Congress' plenary sessions on the 2009 budget to urge the Representatives to adopt the alternative budget proposals formulated by civil society groups and their partner legislators.

"We challenge Congress to scrutinize the executive budget and adjust it to account for the emerging worse scenarios for the rest of the year and for 2009," said Prof. Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines which organized the ABI. "This entails prioritizing essential social programs that will protect the poor, and spur the domestic economy, which are what the civil society's alternative budget proposal enshrines," the former national treasurer added.

Briones explained that millions of Filipinos are in grave danger of being hit by the economic storm because of overly optimistic assumptions of the executive's budget proposal. "The President's budget's macroeconomic assumptions reveal that growth projections are not attainable given the performance of the economy this year and the recent meltdown of the US financial market and its impending impact on the global economy," Briones explained

The alternative budget proposal for the 2009 national budget includes P43 billion increases in the allocations for basic and higher education, health, agriculture and environment. The group also identified the alternative sources of funding for the increases in the budget for social development which have no specific provisions and are subject to the discretion of one person and abuse.

"We challenged our Congressmen, as representatives of the people, to step up to identify and bravely cut unnecessary, wasteful and frivolous spending," Rene Raya of Action for Economic Reforms (AER) said. "The government needs to make adjustments in the proposed expenditure program to ensure that the budget will serve its development objectives and avoid incurring unmanageable budget deficit and a fiscal crisis" Raya added.

The group also called for the full release of approved budget increases for health, education, environment and agriculture. The ABI campaign during the previous years resulted to P5.2 billion increases in the budget for social development in the 2007 budget and P6.3 billion increases in the allocation for health, education, agriculture and environment in the 2008 budget.

"The alternative budget proposals, crafted by civil society groups and partner legislators, are the people's budget because it puts social development at top priority," said Thea Soriano, national coordinator of Education Network (E-Net). "Congress should be the people's allies in demanding for the full release of funds for people's welfare such as the funds for unpaid teachers' benefits of which only P77 million out of the P548 million allocations has been released; community based forest management; and autoclaves for hospitals of the Department of Health," Soriano said.

"Congress should formulate a national budget that would protect the people amidst a slackening economy, a rapidly increasing cost of living and a burgeoning global financial crisis," Briones said. "It is the duty of people's representatives to ensure that public money which came from the common people who work hard every day for their families to survive and whose sacrifices keep the nation alive are used to protect the welfare of the citizens themselves, because their welfare is the nation's security," Briones added.

Forum on the Gradual Phase-out of Mercury

MEDIA ADVISORY

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) –Southeast Asia

and BAN Toxics

invite you to a

Forum on the Gradual Phase-out of Mercury in all Philippine Health Care Facilities & Institutions

October 15 (Wednesday), 8:00 AM

Conference Basement Annex 3

SLU Hospital of Sacred Heart

___________________________

Forum on the Dangers of Mercury in Schools

October 15 (Wednesday), 1:00 PM

Rm 308, Rizal Building, St. Louis University

For details and attendance confirmation, please contact Sonia G. Astudillo at 0918-9182369.

Groups woo lawmakers with flowers, ask to strike out incinerator loan payment in 2009 budget

October 8, 2008

Groups woo lawmakers with flowers, ask to strike out

incinerator loan payment in 2009 budget

Environmentalists and anti-debt advocates trooped today to the House of Representatives to ask lawmakers to strike out in the proposed national budget the payment for what they call an illegitimate debt to Austria involving the Department of Health’s purchase of twenty-six medical waste incinerators in 1997.

Activists from the Eco Waste Coalition, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Greenpeace-Southeast Asia and Health Care Without Harm donned in gasmasks gave flowers to lawmakers urging them to sign the parliamentarians’ petition launched by Representatives Edcel Lagman and Risa Hontiveros-Baracquel asking Austria to cancel the same loan.

Among those who expressed their support and signed the petition were Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, Iloilo Rep. Janeth Garin, Agusan Del Norte Rep. Edelmiro Amante, Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong, YACAP Party-list Carol Lopez, Bulacan Rep. Pedro Pancho, Bohol Rep. Edgar Chato, Zamboanga Rep. Maria Isabelle Climaco and Butil Party-list Rep. Leonila Chavez.

The 26 medical waste incinerators which comprised the loan were distributed to DOH-controlled hospitals. But following concerns regarding their safety, emission tests were conducted by the DOH and the World Health Organization (WHO). The result of the those tests showed that the incinerators had extremely high emissions, with one incinerator exceeding the limit set by the Philippine Clean Air Act for dioxins and furans more than eight hundred times. This prompted the DOH to decommission the incinerators in order to comply with the Clean Air Act.

According to Merci Ferrer of Health Care Without Harm, “We ask our congressmen to again withhold payment of the loan in the 2009 national budget, just as it did previously in the 2008 budget. And we hope this time the President can be prevailed upon not to veto it.”

The original cost of the total incinerator project, which Greenpeace branded as a case of toxic technology transfer, was P 503, 647, 200. For 2009, data submitted by the Department of Budget and Management show that the principal and interest payments for next year would amount to US $2.2 M.

In the General Appropriations Act of 2008 approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Austrian loan was included in the list of those loans "challenged as fraudulent, wasteful, and/or useless" and whose interest payments were put on hold "pending loan renegotiation and/or condonation.” The provision, however, was vetoed by the president.

The said groups also reiterated the call to Congress by social movements for a moratorium on external debt payments and the transformation of that fund into an economic stimulus package. The groups urged lawmakers to realign the total P200-billion foreign debt service earmarked for 2009 in order to boost spending on social and economic services that will contribute in shielding the Philippines from the global fallout of the current American economic crisis.

Group commends petition to cancel Austria incinerator loan

October 2, 2008

GROUP COMMENDS PETITION TO CANCEL AUSTRIA INCINERATOR LOAN

US$2 million must instead go to health services

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia commends the initiative of Representatives Edcel C. Lagman and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in launching a petition to the Austrian parliament to cancel a 1997 loan agreement with the Philippines used by the Department of Health (DOH) in the acquisition of 26 medical waste incinerators, which were later found out to be highly polluting.

“The petition should subsequently lead to allocating the roughly US $ 2 million per year loan payments to the delivery of health services, where financial resources are sorely deficient” said Ronnel Lim, HCWH-SEA Program. “The incinerators were not as they were presented to be by the suppliers and we should not be blindly paying for them.”

The 26 medical waste incinerators distributed to government hospitals controlled by the Department of Health were all decommissioned in 2003 following the results of an emission test study jointly conducted by the DOH and the World Health Organization (WHO),

Dent in health budget

According to the petition signed and launched by Representatives Lagman and Hontiveros, the Austrian loan payment for 2008 accounts to 25 per cent of the country’s total 2008 health budget for addressing backlog in infrastructure.

The petition highlights that the loan continue to eat up a large sum of the government’s resources which could have been allotted instead to the delivery of health services.

Lim added, “In 2008, total health budget is only 7.7 percent (Php22.9 billion) of the total amount automatically allocated to the debt interest payments (Php295.75 billion).”

“This is clearly culpable for our poor health situation,” he exclaimed.

He cited a global report placing Philippines 60^th in the world health system, “awfully left behind by other Asian countries”—Singapore at 6^th, Japan at 10^th, Thailand at 47^th, Malaysia at 49^th and South Korea at 58^th.

A recent report by Save the Children International revealed that only a third of Filipino children under the age of 5 get basic health care, making the Philippines one of the worst places for infants and mothers.

Another report said that two to three poor Filipino patients share one hospital bed in many of the government hospitals, while seven out of 10 Filipinos especially in the rural areas die without seeing a doctor or a health worker.

Lim added that the money used to pay for the loan may also be used for other projects , among which is the installation of non-burn treatment technology, such as autoclaves , for disinfection of medical waste from hospitals.

"By canceling the loan, the Austrian government could achieve the original purpose for which the loan as an official development assistance was originally intended, which was to help Philippine hospitals manage their infectious waste. As things stand now, the DOH hospitals don't have the money to invest in treatment technologies because of this loan that needs to be paid until 2014."

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. IT IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE STOP TOXIC DEBT CAMPIGN- THE CIVIL SOCIETY GROUP THAT IS CALLING FOR THE CANCELLATION AND NON-PAYMENT OF AUSTRIAN LOAN. For more information, visit www.noharm.org.

Group commends petition to cancel Austria incinerator loan

October 2, 2008

GROUP COMMENDS PETITION TO CANCEL AUSTRIA INCINERATOR LOAN

US$2 million must instead go to health services

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia commends the initiative of Representatives Edcel C. Lagman and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in launching a petition to the Austrian parliament to cancel a 1997 loan agreement with the Philippines used by the Department of Health (DOH) in the acquisition of 26 medical waste incinerators, which were later found out to be highly polluting.

“The petition should subsequently lead to allocating the roughly US $ 2 million per year loan payments to the delivery of health services, where financial resources are sorely deficient” said Ronnel Lim, HCWH-SEA Program. “The incinerators were not as they were presented to be by the suppliers and we should not be blindly paying for them.”

The 26 medical waste incinerators distributed to government hospitals controlled by the Department of Health were all decommissioned in 2003 following the results of an emission test study jointly conducted by the DOH and the World Health Organization (WHO),

Dent in health budget

According to the petition signed and launched by Representatives Lagman and Hontiveros, the Austrian loan payment for 2008 accounts to 25 per cent of the country’s total 2008 health budget for addressing backlog in infrastructure.

The petition highlights that the loan continue to eat up a large sum of the government’s resources which could have been allotted instead to the delivery of health services.

Lim added, “In 2008, total health budget is only 7.7 percent (Php22.9 billion) of the total amount automatically allocated to the debt interest payments (Php295.75 billion).”

“This is clearly culpable for our poor health situation,” he exclaimed.

He cited a global report placing Philippines 60^th in the world health system, “awfully left behind by other Asian countries”—Singapore at 6^th, Japan at 10^th, Thailand at 47^th, Malaysia at 49^th and South Korea at 58^th.

A recent report by Save the Children International revealed that only a third of Filipino children under the age of 5 get basic health care, making the Philippines one of the worst places for infants and mothers.

Another report said that two to three poor Filipino patients share one hospital bed in many of the government hospitals, while seven out of 10 Filipinos especially in the rural areas die without seeing a doctor or a health worker.

Lim added that the money used to pay for the loan may also be used for other projects , among which is the installation of non-burn treatment technology, such as autoclaves , for disinfection of medical waste from hospitals.

"By canceling the loan, the Austrian government could achieve the original purpose for which the loan as an official development assistance was originally intended, which was to help Philippine hospitals manage their infectious waste. As things stand now, the DOH hospitals don't have the money to invest in treatment technologies because of this loan that needs to be paid until 2014."

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. IT IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE STOP TOXIC DEBT CAMPIGN- THE CIVIL SOCIETY GROUP THAT IS CALLING FOR THE CANCELLATION AND NON-PAYMENT OF AUSTRIAN LOAN. For more information, visit www.noharm.org.

RP parliamentarians petition cancellation of Austrian incinerator loan

October 1, 2008

RP PARLIAMENTARIANS PETITION CANCELLATION OF AUSTRIAN INCINERATOR LOAN

Representatives Edcel C. Lagman and Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel today launched a Parliamentarian Petition calling on the Austrian government to cancel the loan that financed the 1996 Austrian Medical Waste Incinerator Loan Project, branding it obsolete, illegitimate and unscrupulous and enjoining colleagues in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to sign the petition.

The petition is part of the Stop Toxic Debt Campaign of the Eco Waste Coalition, Freedom from Debt Coalition and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia.

The 1996 loan agreement worth Php503.65 million involves the acquisition of 26 medical waste incinerators from Austria for use of government-run hospitals in the Philippines.

The petition which was launched during a press conference in Quezon City aims to gather signatures of Philippine lawmakers before it is presented to the Austrian parliament.

According to Lagman and Hontiveros-Baraquel, they will enjoin their colleagues in Congress to sign the petition as well as remind them of their previous decision to suspend interest payments for the said loan agreement in the 2008 Budget.

The 14th Congress passing the 2008 Budget provided a special provision suspending interest payments amounting to P 5 billion for loans challenged as fraudulent, wasteful and/or useless. The Austrian Medical Waste Incinerator Project was included in the list.

However, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vetoed the said provision. In the proposed P 1.41 trillion 2009 Budget, payment for said project is reportedly pegged at $ 2.2 million or P 100 million.

First world inequity

Manny Calonzo of Eco-Waste Coalition said that this is another case of a “1st world country waste thrown to a 3rd world like the Philippines” citing that the incinerators were of poor quality, having failed to pass the emission levels guaranteed by the supplier and the emission tests conducted by the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a 2003 emission test conducted by the WHO and the DOH, the dioxin emission of one incinerator tested was eight hundred times the limit set by the Philippine Clean Air Act.

He added that in contravention of European Union (EU) environmental standards, the incinerators exceeded the EU limits on emission. An EU-member country is supposed to accept, enforce and implement EU standards into its national law.

When Austria and RP entered the agreement, there is an EU Council Directive concerning the incineration of hazardous waste, which regulates among other pollutants, dioxins and furans.

According to Calonzo the directive was “obviously missed out” in the Austria-PR loan agreement because the government is still paying for 26 highly polluting incinerators.

Third world blind conformity

Merci Ferrer of HCWH-SEA added that the worst part is “we are paying for incinerators that are no longer in use.”

The 26 incinerators were decommissioned following the approval of the Clean Air Act of 1999 banning the use of technologies harmful to the environment such as the medical waste incinerators. Although the Act has been passed in 1999, the use of medical waste incinerators was extended to July 23, 2003.

According to Ferrer the loan payment started in 2002 and now amounts to US$2 million a year. “If our Congress will not push for this petition, our government will continue to pay until 2014 and this is a huge burden not just for the national pocket but for the majority of Filipinos who are already foregoing hospital care and visits,” she added.

Repayment scheme is divided into 24 equal semi-annual installments with an interest rate of 4 per cent every year. Ferrer added that paying for this loan is simply “blind conformity.”

Debt cancellation at its best

For her Part, Lidy Nacpil, Vice President of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) emphasized that this is not the first time an onerous loan or a third world debt will be cancelled or will be demanded for cancellation.

Nacpil said the Government of Norway in 2006 unilaterally and without any conditions cancelled US$80 million in debts owed by five countries: Egypt, Ecuador, Peru, Jamaica and Sierra Leone concerning the controversial Norwegian Ship Export Campaign which operated from 1976 to 1980.

A failed development policy lacking in proper needs assessment and a proper risk analysis were used as pretexts for the cancellation. The action was widely seen as an international precedent of a creditor country not only admitting responsibility of its flawed projects but also of the cancellation of loan agreements it provided which only undermine a nation and its people’s interest.

Baguio to clean-up hospital wastes

September 18, 2008

BAGUIO TO CLEAN-UP HOSPITAL WASTES

Baguio City - The Baguio City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO), Baguio hospital administrators, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia and Baguio Councilor Perlita (Pinky) Chan-Rondez, in a meeting yesterday on disposal of treated infectious hospital wastes, agreed that a centralized treatment facility is the immediate and long-term solution to Baguio hospital wastes disposal.

Setting-up the treatment facility--from approval of the City Government to bidding to procurement--will take approximately 75 days.

Since July this year, chemically-treated hospitals wastes from Baguio hospitals are not being collected by City Government for the lack of waste treatment facility for chemical and hazardous wastes in the Metro Clark Waste Management Facility. This forced the Baguio hospitals to take care of the final disposal of their treated wastes.

Faye Ferrer of HCWH-SEA, said that chemically-treating infectious wastes and disposing them within the hospital premises is a short-term solution. “Considering that Baguio does not have the luxury of land, we need a long-term solution.”

Following proposal from HCWH-SEA, the local officials present agreed that it is the local government’s role to purchase a treatment facility that will service all hospitals in Baguio and even nearby hospitals.

HCWH-SEA cited autoclave which uses steam to treat cultures and stocks, sharps, materials contaminated with blood and limited amounts of fluid, isolation and surgery wastes, laboratory wastes (excluding chemical wastes), and soft waste. An autoclave package[1] costs around P1 million.

“The City Government is currently paying P500,000 per day or P17.5 million per month to transport its wastes,” said Rondez. She added that P1 million for the autoclave is not a big amount if this will solve the problem of hospital waste disposal.

A study of 7 Baguio hospitals, approximated the volume of infectious waste produced in a month to 9,708 kg.

“An autoclave treating 50 kg of waste per hour and running for 10 hours a day can treat 17,500 kg of infectious wastes in a month. This is bigger than the amount of infectious wastes produced by Baguio hospitals thus the City Government may even extend its service to nearby hospitals,” said Chel Santos of HCWH-SEA.

The hospital administrators likewise agreed that for their part, each hospital will be responsible to transport the infectious waste to the former Irisan dumpsite where the autoclave is proposed to be set-up. From Irisan, the local government will handle the transport of waste to the proposed Baguio residual area.

The Baguio hospitals headed by the Philippine Hospital Association-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) President Dionisio Claridad, Jr., MD, MHA yesterday sent a petition to the City Government to certify the autoclave project urgent and thus expedite its approval.

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org.

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[1] An autoclave package includes Environmental Compliance Certificate, Standard Operating Procedures, Contingency Plan (risk management), One Hazard Spill Kit, One roll of Sterility Indicator Tape, Ten 55 liter yellow infectious waste plastic bins, 10 rolls of high density polyethylene bin liners, 5 A3 which bin to throw in laminated posters, 1 day staff training program for the operators, 2 hour staff training “Educate to Segregate” workshop.

HCWH-SEA supports move to amend Baguio 10-year Eco Waste Plan

September 16, 2008

Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia supports move to amend Baguio 10-year Eco Waste Plan

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia supports the Baguio City Council resolution requesting the City Ecological Solid Waste Management Board to prepare an amended three-year action plan and budget for waste management in the wake of the closure of the Irisan dumpsite and to include health care waste disposal in the said plan.

Hospital wastes form a percentage in the total solid waste collection in the City. However, the Metro Clark Waste Management Facility in Tarlac does not accept chemically-treated hospital wastes from Baguio hospitals for lack of a waste water treatment facility for chemical and hazardous waste. This alone is enough reason for the City Government to include a plan and budget for the proper treatment and disposal of health care wastes coming from hospitals, private and public health clinics and centers.

Alternative technologies to treat medical wastes are ecologically-feasible and cheaper for the community. Thus, we are further urging the City Government to provide a centralized treatment facility to treat health care waste coming from all Baguio hospitals. This will ensure safe treatment and disposal of all hospitals? infectious waste.

Merci Ferrer

Executive Director

Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia

merci@hcwh.org

International group calls on Baguio LGU to give priority to medical waste treatment and disposal

September 15, 2008

INTERNATIONAL GROUP CALLS ON BAGUIO LGU TO GIVE PRIORITY TO MEDICAL WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL

Baguio City - Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)-Southeast Asia, alarmed with reports that treated hospital wastes from Baguio hospitals are not being accepted in the Metro Clark Waste Management Facility in Tarlac, urges the local government to provide a centralized treatment facility “that will ensure safe treatment and disposal of hospitals' infectious wastes”

“At present, solid wastes coming from non-hospital sources are sent to Metro Clark while the hospitals are left to take care of the final disposal of their treated infectious wastes,” said Merci Ferrer, Executive Director of HCWH-SEA.

Hospitals chemically disinfect their infectious waste and are required to set-up a final disposal area within the hospital facility.

“This is not sustainable and not environmentally-friendly. As soon as the final disposal area is full, hospitals would need to set-up a new one and of course the dangers of chemicals used in disinfection leaking to the soil is always there,” said Ferrer.

According to Ferrer, alternative technologies to treat medical wastes are available in the Philippines and “is very economically-viable.”

Autoclaves which uses steam to treat cultures and stocks, sharps, materials contaminated with blood and limited amounts of fluid, isolation and surgery wastes, laboratory wastes (excluding chemical wastes), and soft waste[i] costs around P500,000. “This is way below the P15million a month that the local government of Baguio pays to Metro Clark for its waste disposal.”

According to Ferrer, one treatment facility for the whole of Baguio is enough to cater to its eight hospitals.

She added that the local government of Baguio must take the lead in this citing the Environmental Code of the Philippines which mandates that each province, city or municipality provide measures to facilitate collection, transportation, processing and disposal of waste.

Earlier this year, HCWH-SEA and the City Government and seven Baguio hospitals signed a memorandum of agreement for the hospitals to undergo Health Waste Assessment Project (HWAP).

This came after HCWH-SEA found out that the Waste Assessment and Characterization conducted in Baguio did not include comprehensive data on hospital wastes.

According to Chel Santos, HCWH-SEA Program Officer for the Promotion of Best Practices, HWAP is aimed at closing the gap in the City’s Solid Waste Management Plan, improving the health care waste systems and procedures of the hospitals, and enabling the local government of the City and the regional office of the Department of Health to develop a monitoring system on health care waste management for Baguio and hopefully for the whole Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

“Now that results of the HWAP will soon be presented, collaboration between the LGU and the hospitals and other stakeholders are very much needed,” said Santos.

Result of the HWAP will be presented to the LGU and hospitals at the fourth quarter of 2008. [Copy of the HWAP Summary will be available at HCWH-SEA office]

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) is a global coalition of 473 organizations in more than 50 countries working to protect health by reducing pollution in health care sector. For more information, visit www.noharm.org.

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[i] Source: DOH Health Care Waste Management Manual

Gov't to pay US$2.2 million for 1950s technology in 2009 budget

September 9, 2008
Government to pay $ 2.2 million for 1950s Technology in 2009 Budget
NGOs demand condonation of Incinerator Debt, Repeal of Automatic Debt Servicing

"Fit for the museum not in our budget book."

This was the statement of different social movements belonging to the Stop Toxic Debt Campaign on the controversial Austrian Medical Waste Incinerator Project as the House of Representatives' deliberated the proposed P1.4 trillion National Government Budget.

The Ecological Waste Coalition of the Philippines (Ecowaste Coalition), Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), Global Alliance for
Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Greenpeace Southeast Asia all claim the incinerators brought to the Philippines through a loan agreement with Austria in 1996 were archaic.
Ancient Technology

"They are ancient, virtual antiques," HCWH Coordinator Merci Ferrer said. She cited a 2002 Greenpeace Report stating the basic structure of the incinerators provided to the Philippines was a controlled air type model developed in the 1950s. She said the technology was already banned in many European Union countries even during the time our government acquired them.
Ferrer, also a member of Ecowaste Coalition said due to the compounding nature of medical waste, refinements should have been made on the incinerators such as the setting of a secondary chamber as large as the primary chamber to cover other waste. It was reported that the incinerators provided to the Philippines did not have the said refinements and the essential pollution prevention devices.

She also said the incineration method itself was obsolete. "Incinerators are major sources of pollutants, particularly dioxins and mercury that can cause hazardous effects on the people' health. That's why we are equally upset of our government's poor choice of approach to eradicate medical waste and its negligent purchase of a '50s technology," Ferrer said.

The project was made possible through a loan from the Bank of Austria amounting to ATS 200,000,000 or P 500 million. The loan project was facilitated by the Austrian Embassy through the initiatives of Department of Health (DoH) officials during the Ramos Administration.

Dumping

Environment and debt watchdogs alleged that Austria deliberately dumped the incinerators in the Philippines to take advantage of our then lax environmental laws and to skirt stiff European Union Directives concerning the incineration of hazardous waste, which regulates, among other pollutants, dioxins and furans.

The incinerators were reportedly shelved in 2003 with the enactment of the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 strictly prohibiting the use of incineration. However, according to FDC, the government will still be paying for this debt until 2014. In the proposed 2009 Budget, payment for the mothballed incinerators amounts to $ 2.2 million.
Bizarre Debt

"How our government budget came out paying annually for a technology as old as the Quezon Government is truly bizarre and one for the books," FDC Secretary General Milo Tanchuling said.

"Yet, like many peculiar issues concerning government expenditures, it often points us to illegitimate loans and projects which adds up to the already heavy debt burden of the Filipino people," Tanchuling said.

Tanchuling gave a list of "bizarre" debts our government continues to pay or have fully paid through the years. Some examples he mentioned are The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) which was erected along an earthquake fault line and which did not produce a single watt of electricity, the Telepono sa Barangay Project (TBS) which provided unusable phones to different detached communities and the Small Coconut Farms Development Project (SCFDP) which was supposed to deliver fertilizers to farmers except that it didn't.

Congress Already Concurred

Meanwhile, GAIA Co-Coordinator Manny Calonzo said the issue of whether the Austrian Incinerator Project is an illegitimate debt and whether it is an archaic and anti-environment piece of technology is already a settled matter.
Calonzo said Congress in its version of the 2008 Budget included a special provision calling for the suspension of interest payments of specific loan agreements challenged as fraudulent, anomalous and/or wasteful. This includes the Austrian Incinerator Project. He also said as early as the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1999, our legislators already concurred that incinerators that emit poisonous and toxic fumes are in fact dirty technologies.

"For these reasons alone, our government's nonstop payment of this project in the 2009 Budget is totally unwarranted and a betrayal of the lawmakers' intent to spend more on truly beneficial expenses for the common good," Calonzo said.

The groups blame the automatic debt servicing policy of the government as the main culprit in this issue. They said the provision providing for automatic debt payment in the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 encourages corruption and the accumulation of more illegitimate debts.

"Thus, the real challenge to Congress in the 2009 Budget is to use the budget deliberations as a platform to urge the Executive to condone specific cases of illegitimate debt and to build the necessary legislative concurrence to repeal the automatic debt servicing provision," the groups said.