In 1993, pressure from grassroots groups forced the release of internal Department of Defense documents revealing a history of toxic waste dumping, hazardous spills never cleaned up, and environmentally destructive practices. Further evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), and U.S. and Philippine environmental firms confirmed that nearly a century of U.S. military operations had resulted in dozens of sites tainted with poisonous solvents, asbestos, mercury, lead, PCBs, unexploded bombs, and other harmful substances.

These contaminants have already affected people from nearby communities. Scrap metal scavengers have been killed and maimed digging up unexploded munitions from unmarked firing ranges at Clark and Subic. A health survey released by a Canadian institute in 1998 revealed that communities closest to toxic sites reported high rates of reproductive, kidney, and nervous disorders. Today, residents living near Clark and Subic report many stillbirths, congenital defects, cancers including childhood leukemia, skin diseases, and mental disability.

The Filipino people are in a bind, scared for the health of their families, but without the financial resources to safeguard themselves or their families from the toxic threat. Many have organized and are fighting--along side the Philippine partner of FACES, the People's Task Force for Bases Clean Up--for their rights to a clean, healthy environment.

The Philippine government now admits there is a problem. But for a developing country with limited economic and technical resources, conducting a clean-up of this magnitude is virtually impossible without U.S. funding and technical assistance.