Greenpeace: Harmful Chemicals Found in Philippine Water Sources

Manila, Philippines (AHN)-The quality of clean water sources is in "a continuous decline" in the Philippines.

Noting that even the government acknowledges that as many as 50 of the country's 421 rivers are considered "biologically dead" due to pollution, Greenpeace said Monday the authorities are missing out on the most toxic compounds in water sources.

Greenpeace said it has found harmful chemicals and above normal levels of metals in tap water samples collected from Caloocan, Manila and Quezon City.

Early this year, Greenpeace monitored tetracholorethylene in groundwater sources near the Cavite Export Processing Zone at 70 times above the US environmental limit. The same chemical was also found in groundwater sources in Las Pinas City.

The government's Environmental Monitoring Board admits it has no capacity to test for the carcinogenic chemical and do not do so, Greenpeace said in a statement.

"The law does not put a stop to the presence of toxic chemicals in the water, but assigns limits, or standards, about how much of these chemicals can be tolerated in the water," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Toxics campaigner Beau Baconguis.

"This leads to a legalized sort of pollution, because the allowable standards, for example, of lead or mercury in the water, build up in the environment and can still end up in our food, or in our water," said Baconguis.

"Clearly, what is needed is a system that goes beyond standards, and focuses on prevention, rather than disguise or dilute whatever toxic effluents end up in our water," she added.

The Philippines has an abundance of fresh water resources but ranks second lowest among Southeast Asian countries with fresh water availability, Greenpeace said.

It said experts have predicted that by 2025, water availability deficit would take place in several river basins such as in Pampanga and Agno, Pasig-Laguna and Cagayan Valley in Luzon in the island of Cebu in central Philippines.

"It seems the Philippines is facing an inevitable water crisis," Greenpeace campaigns director Von Hernandez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Declining water quality is compounded by the problem of water scarcity which is now "a very palpable threat," Greenpeace said.