MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan – Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace called on government officials to commit to a toxic-free future citing pollution on the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river system which was included in the 30 dirtiest places in the world in 2007.
Based on the 88-page report entitled “Hidden Consequences” released on May 25, Greenpeace cited the hidden costs of toxic pollution.
They cited the long term contamination from hazardous chemicals of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System along with other water systems abroad like the Hudson River, the Dutch Delta, the Laborec River, the Swiss Toxic Dumps, the Yangtze River in China, the Chao Pharaya in Thailand, and the Neva in Russia.
Greenpeace said that like the Yangtze, Chao Pharaya, and Neva, Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River system’s immediate vicinity is dotted by numerous factories and industrial buildings.
They said that the rivers supply drinking, domestic and agriculture water to the populations of large rural areas, as well as to the inhabitants of big cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok and St.Petersburg.
Through case studies from various countries, the report shows how toxic industrial effluents have dire impacts on freshwater bodies, and people.
However, because these chemicals are hidden or invisible, efforts to control them once they have been discharged have not been effective.
Meanwhile, the provincial government led by Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado continues to make efforts to revive the said river system by appointing river patrollers recently.
Alvarado said that his administration is aiming to revive the river system which has been long declared as biologically dead by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Earlier, Bulacan appointed at least 100 river patrollers who were tasked to arrest polluters and clean the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River system.
For his part, Marilao Mayor Epifanio Guillermo said that the Marilao River has become a catch basin of garbage from the cities of San Jose del Monte and Meycauayan in Bulacan; and the cities of Caloocan, Quezon City and Valenzuela in Metro Manila.
Now, Greenpeace is calling on the Philippine government to learn from the lessons of developed countries and immediately institute policies to protect the country’s precious freshwater resources from industrial pollution.
“This report debunks the short-sighted and negative mentality that pollution is the price to pay for progress. Experiences from everywhere around the world show that industrial water pollution have translated to huge economic, human and environmental costs. Greenpeace aims to show that there is a better way: an effective pollution prevention policy is the win-win solution,” said Beau Baconguis, toxics campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
She said that “hidden consequences” draws attention to the financial, social and environmental costs of industrial water pollution, showcasing the problems of long-term contamination from hazardous chemicals across several locations.
“The impacts of water pollution on human health, the environment and local economies are rarely considered or compensated, not just because they are hard to calculate, but because of the difficulty in tracking down the polluters and holding them responsible for the cost of cleaning up the pollution. Instead, it is the taxpayer who too often ends up paying the bill,” said Baconguis.
