The hazards of misinformation to general welfare

LIMAY, Bataan – When Governor Albert S. Garcia took the helm as chief local executive of the province in 2013, foremost in his agenda is the protection and enhancement of the general welfare of his fellow Bataeños which is clearly embodied in the vision of the province that by 2020, Bataan Province will have the lowest poverty incidence resulting from quality growth attaining top-level human development index in the Philippines.

Drawing on the strength of Bataan’s strategic location, said vision leans toward industrialization that will fuel economic growth.

By quality growth, the provincial government is focused on an efficient, inclusive and sustainable economy, where programs are well planned utilizing minimum amount of resources, involving all municipalities, national agencies, barangays and even the most vulnerable members of the society. In terms of sustainability, a balanced developmental approach; industrialization vis-à-vis protection and proper management of our environmental resources, is employed thereby environment will never be compromised at the peril of the next generation.

In view of the above, long before the influx of industrial investments, the provincial government had already put safety measures in place with Provincial Environment Office working side by side with the DENR and Environment Management Bureau.

The recent controversy in Brgy. Lamao, Limay town that stemmed from unverified reports by some mainstream media that fly ash and bottom ash coming from the coal-fired power plants at the Petron Refinery in Limay and San Miguel Corporation Consolidated Power Corporation cause diseases among the residents in Sitio Pexsite such as upper respiratory tract infection and skin diseases to name a few allegedly due to air and water contamination led the provincial government to take a proactive stance on the issue and revisited the preventive measures and interventions being implemented by the provincial government even without this controversy.

Comparing available data from the Department of Health (10Leading Causes of Morbidity) for 2012 and 2014 for the town of Limay, the number of health related cases even went down from 13,439 in 2012 down to 3,687 in 2014. The data reported in the media refers to the number of consultations and not cases.

It is also worth mentioning that media reports that caused unnecessary alarm, not to mention apprehension among the people are to date, still inconclusive and unverified. Hence personnel of the Provincial Health Office under Dr. Rosanna Buccahan have been deployed to verify and validate raw data gathered for 2016 in Barangay Lamao. Based on examination conducted by Dra. Buccahan, the two cases of skin diseases reported on national television were caused by scabies, one of several skin conditions that can cause itching and rashes. It is a dermatologic condition caused by sarcoptes scabiei, an eight-legged microscopic mite. The other case was due to sting/attack of hairy caterpillar or in Tagalog, “nahigad”.

On the part of the provincial government, industrial and manufacturing firms have been undergoing regular monitoring to ensure that they conform with internationally-prescribed anti-pollution standards set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Genuinely concerned with providing appropriate safety mechanism particularly to the residents living in the province’s industrial zones, strategic schemes had been instituted, in fact procurement of additional air and water quality monitoring equipment amounting to PhP 6Million for the appropriate appraisal of internationally-recognized standards of safety and scientific methods of the correct disposal of hazardous leftovers of several industrial firms in the province have been expedited.

In light of this development, a Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) meeting was held last Friday, January 6 presided by no less than DENR-EMB Regional Director Lormelyn E. Claudio. In attendance were Limay Mayor Ver Roque, Provincial Environment Resources Office head, Vic Ubaldo, representatives from Petron and SMC, Municipal Health Office, barangay officials and residents and members of the media. Issues and concerns were thoroughly discussed which in the end led to concrete doable action plans giving top consideration to the welfare of the people in the affected area.

While it is true that information is power, couple it with current technology, it becomes more powerful and a valuable tool for development. However, releasing partial, unverified information works the other way around and therefore becomes hazardous to general welfare.