Saturday, November 24, 2012

Ang Bayan: US dumps toxic waste in Subic

From Ang Bayan, the official propaganda organ of the CPP Central Committee (Nov 21 edition): US dumps toxic waste in Subic

US Navy ships and submarines were found to have ordered the dumping of toxic waste near the coastline of the Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales in October. The US Navy has been contracting the Malaysian-owned Glen Defense Marine Asia Inc.-Philippines or GDM to collect the waste and dispose of it in Philippine waters..... After the US Navy’s use of the Philippine seas as a dump site was exposed, everyone involved played the blame game. The GDM immediately hid behind the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) to avoid criminal prosecution. The US Embassy and the US Navy, on the other hand, quickly said that the American side could not be held accountable because it was a private contractor that did the actual dumping, and as such, it was a matter outside the purview of the VFA. The most detestable declarations came from the Aquino regime, which hurriedly absolved both GDM and the US Navy and upheld the VFA. It has come to the defense of those who destroy the environment and trample on the country’s sovereignty instead of holding them to account. The volume of waste material the US Navy has ordered thrown in Philippine waters is mind boggling, since this year alone, GDM has already serviced 37 US naval ships and submarines.
There have been renewed calls for the abrogation of the VFA because the latter has been invoked as a justification by the US military to use the country’s seas as a dumping area for toxic chemicals.The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) launched a protest action near the US Embassy on November 14 to demand the junking of the VFA. BAYAN and other progressive organizations likewise supported proposals by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to abrogate the VFA and calls by Sens. Francis Escudero, Aquilino Pimente III and Loren Legarda to investigate the dumping of toxic waste by the US Navy.....

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20121121/us-dumps-toxic-waste-in-subic

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