Lesson 9

Environmental, Health and Sports Issues and Concerns

There is no issue that exclusively belongs to one particular area because one issue has a
direct or indirect impact on another kind of issue. Hence, some of the issues discussed in
this section may belong to socio-political issues or socio-economic issues or vice versa. The
issues presented and discussed in this section are not ranked accordingly.

1. Issues on Segregation of Waste

The segregation of waste is one of the biggest problems of waste management

agencies and people in the country. Many households place their waste in only container.
It’s either due to laziness or lack of container for waste disposal. More often than not,
waste collectors or “basureros” do not collect the waste materials if not segregated.
Uncollected garbage remains in the streets or backyards or in front of houses and some
Od these garbage bags contained spoiled food that either ends up destroyed by stray
animals or street children. These uncollected garbage poses a serious health hazard.

Corollary to this issue is the problem of improper waste disposal. In one study, it was
concluded that improper waste disposal is a big environmental and health problems in the
country.

This problem may be resolved or it will remain a problem to the country in the next
few years. Mismanagement of waste disposal has a serious effect on ground and surface
water contamination, flooding, air pollution, water pollution, etc. People will suffer in the
next few years of existence if they continue with this kind of activity. Health security may
not be secured or guarded well especially when in drinking contaminated water because
of the improper disposal of the waste.
2. Smoking Ban

The warning that “smoking is dangerous to your health” is not very effective in stopping
smokers from smoking once it becomes a habit or addiction. Smoking poses more risks than
benefits. Radio, television, and billboards advertisements have been banned from
advertising the sale of tobaccos and cigarettes. Despite such banning of cigarette smoking,
some smokers still smoke anywhere.

Due to this, President Rodrigo Duterte has now ordered a strict ban on smoking in
public places and called on citizens to help the local authorities apprehend smokers. The
executive order signed in 2017 forbids the use of tobacco, including electronic cigarettes, in
all public spaces, even in sidewalks. It also prohibits anyone under 18 from “using, selling,
or buying cigarettes or tobacco products.”

More than a quarter of Filipinos smoke, according to a 2015 World Health Organization
report, including 11 percent of minors.
3. Firecracker Ban

The use of firecrackers to signify the celebration of an event has been going on since
the American period. Whether in parties or New Year’s Eve, all kinds of fireworks are
displayed and used. Unlike before, there are now hundred sorts of firecrackers being
manufactured and sold in the markets. Every year, people have died and injured due to
firecracker use. For this reason, President Duterte has signed in June 20, 2017 Executive
Order No. 28 banning fireworks in households or place of residence nationwide and shall
only confines its use of firecrackers for “community works display.” According to the
Executive Order, there is a substantial number of firecracker-related injuries, even
casualties recorded every year, some accidents involved bystanders so “the promulgation
of stricter national standards. Rules and regulations are warranted.”

According to the EO, a community fireworks display is “conducted under the

supervision of a trained person duly licensed by the Philippine National Police.
4. Dengvaxia Issue

Families of children who were immunized with Dengvaxia vaccine and their supporters
from Gabriela party-list group picketed in front of the Department of Health main office in
Manila to protest the implementation of the P3.5 billion dengue immunization program
without sufficient clinical trials.

Malacanang also said that it would use the full force of the law on the culprits behind
the P3.5 billion dengue vaccine fiasco.

Presidential spokeperson Harry Roque expressed the view that the government is not
taking the issue sitting down and noted that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had
already suspended the sale, distribution, and marketing of the dengue vaccine
“Dengvaxia” in the Philippines.
5. Issue on PhilHealth ID

The senate has included a provision in the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget
cancelling the need for patients seeking treatment in hospitals to present a Philippine Health
Insurance (Philhealth) card as a condition for availing themselves of benefits from the state
health insurer, according to newspaper report.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said the scrapping of the “No Philhealth ID, No
Benefits” policy is one of the many provisions crafted by the Senate to guarantee universal
health coverage.

Recto sponsored the 2017 budget provision which states that “ in the attaintment of
universal coverage, no Filipino, whether a Philhealth member or not, shall be denied of
Philhealth benefits. Philhealth identification card is not necessary in the availment of
benefits.”
On the same issue, the major Philhealth-related initiative-pushed Sen. Loren Legarda-
appropriated P 3 billion for paying the insurance premiums of the estimated “last eight
million uninsured Filipinos.”

This backlog was discovered in the course of budget deliberations, Recto said.
“Because the Senate did its job, the discrepancy was found,” he pointed out. (Newspaper
report)

6. HIV Positive and AIDS cases

The Department of Health has recorded 1,761 HIV-positive cases and 578 AIDS cases
from January 1984 to September 2002. Most of these cases involved persons aged 20 to 39
years old. However, the US Central Intelligence Agency said that there were about 28,000
Filipinos infected with HIV or AIDS and that 1,200 of them died in 1999 alone.
 Although national prevalence is still low, the country has experienced a sharp rise in new
HIV infections in recent years. Prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM) has
increased 10-fold since 2010. In 2015, the Department of Health reported that at least 11
cities registered HIV prevalence rates among MSM of more than 5 percent, with one-Cebu
City, the second largest city-recording a 15 percent prevalence rate for the Asia-Pacific
region and a 4.7 percent HIV prevalence rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the most
serious HIV epidemic in the world. IN Region 1, Pangasinan ranks first in the number of HIV
cases. Among the cities in Pangasinan, Dagupan City has the highest HIV cases.

There has also been an increase in Cebu City in HIV prevalence among pregnant women,
and in newly recorded infections among people who inject drugs in Cebu City, where the
prevalence rate among such people has been recorded at between 40 and 50 percent. Many
of these new infections among people who inject drugs are due to sharing contaminated
needles.
 The growing HIV epidemic is driven by a legal and policy environment hostile to
evidence-based policies and interventions that could help prevent HIV transmission. Such
restrictions are found in national, provincial, and local government policies, and are
compounded by the resistance of the Catholic Church to sexual health education and
condom use.

7. Ethical Issues Surrounding Gene Theraphy

Because gene theraphy involves making changes to the body’s set of basic instructions, it
raises many unique ethical concerns. The ethical questions surrounding gene theraphy
include:

• How can “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy be distinguished?

• Who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability or disorder?
• Will the high costs of gene therapy make it available only to the wealthy?
• Could the widespread use of gene therapy make society less accepting of people who
are different?
• Should people be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits such as
height, intelligence, or athletic ability?

Current gene therapy research has focused on treating individuals by targeting the
therapy to body cells such as bone marrow or blood cells. This type of gene theraphy
cannot be passed to a person’s children. Gene therapy could be targeted to egg and
sperm cells, however which would allow the inserted gene to be passed to future
generations. This approach is known as germline gene therapy.

The idea of germline gene therapy is controversial. While it could spare future
generations in a family from having a particular genetic disorder, it might affect the
development of fetus in unexpected ways or have long-term side effects that are not yet
known. Because people who would be affected by germline gene therapy are not yet
born, they can’t chooses whether to have the treatment.
 In the Philippines, there are reports that only few people who could avail the cost of
gene therapy use this in treating old-age illness, cancer, poor memory, etc. The effect of
gene therapy on physical and mental health is still being studied. But its risk on the
immune system has been found out. According to the findings of the study, the immune
system may respond leading to inflammation due to the inserted genes. Virus vector may
target genes other than intended ones. The activation of inserted genes may be placed in
a wrong place. Virus vector may lead to further health problems.

8. Issue on Cutting Trees

Republic Act No. 3571 prohibits the cutting of trees and other ornamental plants
which have been planted along public roads and in plazas for beautification purposes
versus the nationwide efforts to improve the economy by facilitating flow of people,
goods, and services through capital investments in widening roads and bridges.
 The issue is, after investing so much money adding two extra lanes and widening the
bridge, traffic has not improved a bit because the mango and acasia tree along the road
remain standing obstructing traffic.

Another issue is the law regulating the cutting of trees in private lands. Presidential
Decree 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines states that trees in private
lands may only be cut with permission from DENR. Worse, the permit to cut trees is
separated from the permit to transport. This is a big issue to solve.

9. Issue of Log ban

The Philippines is among the countries with the highest deforestation rates. It has
only around seven million hectares of forest land left. Even reports of the Department of
Environment and National Resources (DENR) reveal that large-scale commercial logging
have continued since the country’s colonial period. Seemingly indifferent or apathetic to
findings exposing the rapidly dwindling forest cover, the Philippine government continues
To issue permits to big logging companies to cut down trees for commercial use and
export.

Based on the most recent reports from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDMC), damage to property, infrastructure and agriculture from
floods in parts of Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao has amounted to P1.2 billion. The floods
have also displaced 262,107 families, or some 1.355 million individuals. The death toll was
last pegged at 42, while five remain missing.

Agency reports also show that 1,618 municipalities across the country already
considered disaster hotspot.

Despite his seemingly firm stance, however, former President Benigno Aquino made
the admission that a log ban could not be enforced immediately. He said that the
Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR) and logging firms should first
come to an agreement. He added that the EO would also affect and small-time saw mills.
 Previous administrations have also flexed their muscles against logging, but given the
state of the country’s forests, it appears that all their efforts have not been positive.

The Arroyo administration laid down total ban on logging activities in the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Ousted president Joseph Estrada said he would implement a total log ban during his
first State of the Nation Address (SONA), but no policy or law was created.

The Ramos administration carried the policy of selective logging, wherein areas were
identified to allow logging under the concept of “sustainable development.”

The Catholic Church officials have already supported the call for a total log ban.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the creation of a tripartite committee that would
study the implementation of a total log ban in the country. Aside from the tripartite
committee, no definite move has been undertaken on the issue of log ban.
10. Issue on Mining

The report in mining in the Philippines argues that mining is being developed at a
speed and in a manner likely to cause massive long-term environmental damage and
social problems including environmental and health.

The report finds that:

a. Current mining plans will undermine the Government’s own strategy for sustainable
development by destroying or severely damaging critical eco-systems, including
watersheds, rivers, marine eco-systems and important agricultural production areas.

b. Implementation of the proposed mining plan will bring insufficient benefits to the
Filipino people
c. Corruption is a serious problem in the Philippines and it can be expected that plans for
extensive mining operations in remote areas requiring licensing, regulation and
monitoring will make it worse.

d. The Philippines currently faces a crisis of extra-judicial killings. More than 700 activists-
including civil rights and environmental advocates-have been killed since the current
administration came to power in 2001.

The report recommends that:

a. The Philippine government should cancel all current mining applications that will
inevitably cause major environmental damage to critical watersheds, eco-systems,
agriculture or fisheries and result in social disruption. The former woman DENR Secretary
resigned because of this issue.
b. The Philippine government should revoke the Mining Act of 1995 and enact
alternative legislation that more effectively protects the interests of the affected local
communities, indigenous peoples and the environment

c. The World Bank Group should halt its promotion and support for mining expansion in
the Philippines under current conditions.

d. All mining projects should be inspected by reputable independent organizations

before investments.

11. Issue on Malnutrition

Poor nutrition remains a major problem in the Philippines with 3.4 million children
found to be stunted and over 300,000 underweight-all under 5 years old.
 A study released by the Inter-Agency Regional Analyst Network (RAN) and the Action
Against Hunger (ACF) said these figures are alarming, given the growing economy of the
Philippines.

Titled “Socio-economy of Chronic Malnutrition in the Philippines: A preliminary key

trends analysis by 2030”, the study noted that several theories have established that
“higher incomes automatically improve the access to food.”

“A relatively modest increase in GDP per capita could-or should-significantly improve a

range of social progress in addressing the issue.

From a prevalence rate of 38% in 1998, the decrease has not been consistent, only
reaching 30% IN 2013 BASED ON THE ESTIMATES OF United Nations (UN) agencies.

Based on Food Nutrition and Research Institute (FNRI) data as of 2015, stunting or
the chronic malnutrition rate among children is now at 33.4%.
 Lower income countries like Vietnam and Cambodia are even faring better than the
Philippines. Only 23% of children are stunted in Vietnam while 32.9% are affected in
Cambodia.

The Philippines disturbing figures, the study said, are expected to shoot up by 2030 if
government does not boost support for social services.

12. Issue on the Use of Mobile Phones

Presently, mobile phones are being used everywhere because these devices do not
use the physical cable/wire that is demanded for the communications purposes. Their
demand for the electromagnetic radiation for receiving and transferring the data in the
air; either it is a harmful radiations which affect the human health because such type of
radiations are available everywhere and their existence cannot be felt.
 There is a great impact of using mobile phones on human health. These radiations
also penetrate in the body and they affect the cell structure and the DNA. The different
types of radiation are being used for connecting the mobile phone devices with each
other and each type of radiation having its own frequency and wavelength, the
frequency mostly ranges from 3kHz to 300 GHz. There are several cases of mobile
phone devices such as cell phones, wireless router, tablet PC, cell telephone tower,
wireless hand free, Bluetooth device, audio player, laptop connected to the wireless
router (Wi-Fi). These devices give off harmful radiations which can contribute too many
harmful disease such as brain tumor, male infertility, and ear hearing impairment, effect
on the fetus, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, heart trouble, insomnia,
high blood pressure, leukemia, birth defects, Immune system, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Radiation are also causes of some symptoms which are: headache, sleep disruption,
tiredness and so on. DNA damage can also happen because the wireless radiation is
given off by the mobile phone devises during the sending and receiving process of the
data. The survey-based study was directed with the assistance of doctors using survey
questionnaire.
This survey contained some of the disease which are induced by radiations like male
infertility, brain tumor and the ear hearing impairment.

13. Issue on Philippine Sports

Sports enthusiast pointed out that there is a “sorry state of sports” in the Philippines,
especially in this contemporary society. Gone were the days when sports participated in
by Filipinos came into the limelight. Of all international athletic events, the Olympics is
the most glamorous and significant in the Philippine sports. The Olympics have come
and gone and yet again, the Philippines has failed to rank among the world’s best.

For the fourth Olympics in a row, Filipino athletes were unable to take home a medal
of any color for the country, the last having been boxer Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco who
won a silver in Atlanta in 1996.
 In over 20 Olympic Games since 1924, the Philippines has won a dismal 9 medals, 2
silvers, and 7 bronzes. This record is only one medal more than the record 8 medals won
by the Philippines’ neighboring country Thailand in one Olympics.

Only in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics did the country win more than one medal in
the Games. In LA, the Philippines won 3 bronze medlas in 3 different sports-athletics,
boxing, and swimming.

Exactly 90 years later, the LA Games is still the lost successful Olympics the country has
ever had, with the state of sports in the Philippines having appeared to worsen rather than
improve over the decades.

In the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines came out on top, besting its 10
other neighbors and bagging 281 medals. By 2011, the Philippines finished a dismal 6th of
11, with its measly 169 medal haul.
 According to sports officials and athletes lack of rigid training, poor funding during
training and actual events, favoritism in the selection of participants, and other sports
management are attributed to the “sorry state of sports.”