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Greenpeace on Saturday called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for a full public disclosure of industrial discharges into freshwater sources, citing the dangers posed by toxic effluents and the public’s right to know the composition of such discharges into water bodies like the Laguna de Bay.

Greenpeace made the call on the occasion of the International Coastal Clean-up day, as it joined hundreds of youth from Laguna Province in cleaning up the shores of Calamba.

Running priest Fr. Robert Reyes also joined the group in the clean up.

In this third year of Greenpeace’s collaboration with the Laguna Youth Development Affairs Office (YDA), the Laguna youth picked up and segregated garbage from the shore, while Greenpeace volunteers on brightly-coloured rubber boats and kayaks picked up garbage from the water.

The Greenpeace boats also unfurled a banner saying, “WHAT LIES BENEATH? OUR WATERS, OUR RIGHT TO KNOW!” Beau Baconguis, Toxics Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that the message was meant to highlight the unseen threats.

“We want to point to the fact that there is a kind of pollution that may be invisible to the eye, but may prove to be bigger hazards. Unfortunately, pollution information is not made available to the public. Therefore, they are unable to protect themselves,” Baconguis said.

Greenpeace recommends the setting up of a pollution disclosure system, such as a Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR), as a tool to empower the public and help curb pollution.

A PRTR would provide the people with a database system from which they could check the health of water sources and identify hot spots.

The system would provide industries with a comprehensive measurement to check, compare and improve their processes, and make their businesses more viable. (PNA)

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