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Monday, February 23, 2004
Guv seeks expert's removal from arsenic probe
By Jeff M. Tupaz
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piņol has suggested the removal of an expert from a team looking into the reported high level of arsenic in Mt. Apo.
The governor said he wants an "impartial result" from the investigating team, the reason he called for the removal of Dr. Nelia Maramba, the country's top toxicologist who has been involved in various studies conducted on the arsenic level in the country's highest peak.
Piņol, who attended a consultation here Friday between concerned government agencies and "arsenic victims", said the surveillance team should not include someone who had participated in previous investigation about the presence of arsenic in Mt. Apo.
"If we want to come up with impartial results, let us not involve those who have been involved before," the governor said.
Several studies have already been conducted since 1993 to find out the source of arsenic in the area. Maramba had actively participated in all the studies.
In 2002, Maramba and her team from the National Poison Control Information Service took samples of soil, water, plants, air and blood from residents of six villages inside the Mt. Apo 10-km radius to find out the level of arsenic concentration.
Presenting results of their study last year, Maramba said her team could not directly say if the monitored high level of arsenic in Mt. Apo is caused by the operations of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Corp. (PNOC).
Maramba's team also discovered a high level of arsenic in Barangay Ilomavis, a village where PNOC geothermal plants are located.
Arsenic poisoning
Arsenic is the most toxic of the chemicals contained in chromated copper aasenate (CCA), a chemical wood preservative and pesticide formulation regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Arsenic poisoning is difficult to pin down since it leaves the body within three days of exposure, residues are stored in the brain, bones, and tissue and continue to do serious damage. Some people have no immediate symptoms, but the exposure can cause many types of cancer, diabetes and long-term damage to the liver, kidney and the central nervous system.
The Maramba report indicated that while there was a possibility that PNOC operations caused the rise of arsenic level in the area, agriculture chemicals could have contributed to the problem.
But the most probable source of arsenic in the area, Maramba pointed, was nature itself.
Arsenic, she said last year, is highly present in volcanic areas like Mt. Apo.
But for Piņol the re-surfacing of the arsenic issue is "part of a sustained effort to put down PNOC."
The team has yet to start revalidating arsenic presence and the reported extent of poison it caused to residents in at least six villages inside the Mt. Apo 10-kilometer radius. It would take until 2005 for the team to finish the study.
Lack of funds
Health Undersecretary Antonio Lopez said they do not have the capacity to meet the financial requirements needed by a body of experts and professionals tasked to revalidate the reported increase of arsenic level in Mt. Apo area.
Lopez said the task force would need at least P50 million and the department cannot afford such huge amount.
"The problem is funding. There is a possibility that the project will be funded, but we do not know yet where to get and when we could get it," Lopez said.
The health department had been perennially at the backseat when it comes to government fund appropriation, Lopez said. He added this would drive them to woo foreign funding agencies just to address the Mt. Apo arsenic problem.
Lopez hopes to get the fund from the International Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS).
He said he would personally lobby for the fund to the IFCS during a meeting with its officials in March.
Lopez also admitted that they are eyeing the Japan International Corporation Agency for funding.
The provincial government of Cotabato vowed to give at least P500,000 for the study.
Piņol warning
Piņol, meanwhile, warned he would shut down the Mt. Apo geothermal plant of PNOC if proven that the plant is the main culprit in the high incidence of arsenic poisoning in the Mt. Apo area.
The governor issued the warning during Friday's public consultation on the arsenic surveillance in Mt. Apo conducted by the Department of Health, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and toxicology experts from the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).
He said the task force that conducted the study on the incidence of arsenic poisoning in Mt. Apo in 2002 had not shown valid proof that PNOC is to be blamed for the high incidence of arsenic poisoning in the area.
Piņol said he doubts the sincerity of the people behind the study since "they are the same people who were in the first place against the construction of the Mt. Apo geothermal plant" years back.
He accused the group of Dr. Nelia Cortez Maramba, chief toxicologist of UP-PGH, of outrightly concluding PNOC's hand in the high incidence of arsenic poisoning despite the absence of a conclusive study.
Another expert from the UP-PGH, however, said that they have not made any statement blaming the PNOC for the arsenic poisoning.
Piņol said the arsenic issue is just a "recycled issue" and that some non-government organizations are making money out of the issue due to the support and aid given them by some international groups. With Ben O. Tesiorna
(February 23, 2004 issue)
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