| | Concerned
residents of barangay La Paz, Cortes town voted 211-32 opposing the construction
of a Globe Telecom cellsite tower, during a barangay assembly last Sunday.
In
effect, residents want barangay officials to revoke a previous barangay resolution
granting permit to the telecommunications giant to push through with the cellsite
construction.
La
Paz residents claim that based on research they have acquired, continued exposure
to radio frequency radiation being emitted by a cell site tower looming over their
homes would cause health hazards and illnesses.
This
fear is not unfounded, as studies in other countries and the experience of residents
in other barangays in the Philippines have shown.
| | | Residents
also questioned the manner in which the barangay consultation for the cellsite
tower construction was allegedly railroaded by barangay officials who reportedly
tampered Barangay Resolution 26-06 which did not reflect what was contained in
the minutes of the assembly submitted to the Cortes Sangguniang Bayan (SB) for
the approval of its building permit.
Sources
told the Chronicle that the SB returned the resolution to the barangay council
for conflicting dates appearing on the document. Moreover, the building permit
issued by the municipal engineer was based on this erroneous resolution. |
The
source said that Cortes Mayor Jasmin Balistoy reportedly issued a cease and desist
order (CDO) for the cellsite construction after 60 residents of Purok 3, barangay
La Paz, signed a petition expressing opposition to the resolution passed by the
barangay council which they said is misleading.
However, Balistoy allegedly
revoked the CDO three days after.
According to La Paz residents, barangay
officials presented to them during a public consultation that the cellsite will
be constructed in a lot near the V-Hire terminal where there are no residents
nearby.
However, when the resolution and minutes of said barangay assembly
was approved and endorsed to the SB, the location of the tower was changed and
will be constructed in a lot densely populated.
Some oppositors (who refused
to be named) told the Chronicle that Globe Telecom allegedly asked residents,
who are within a 40-meter radius from the cellsite tower, to sign a waiver, while
explaining to them that radio-frequency radiation travels upward and would not
expose those who are directly below the tower.
An oppositor told the Chronicle
that barangay officials should have conducted the public hearing to inform residents
where the tower should be built to avoid health risks.
STUDIES ON CELLSITES
Recent
studies show incidents of leukemia, among other illnesses, in communities exposed
to cellsite towers. However, results of these studies are inconsistent and inconclusive.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) has not released any official
research data on the effects of cellsite towers to those who are frequently exposed
to it.
Pathophysiology studies by Sodeman & Sodeman, authorities respected
by doctors all over the world, states that non-ionizing radiation, such as that
emitted by a cellsite tower, causes cellular excitation or tissue heating. The
levels emitted by a tower at a single time may be harmless and below the levels
allowed by the DOH, but with 24-hour exposure, these allegedly harmless levels
will eventually lead to physiologic damage.
The DOH has not been able
to cite any study to prove the absence of impacts of cell site towers over a long
period of exposure. |
