Deal #470

Workers are also greatly exposed to hazardous chemicals which have led to “reported cases of skin diseases, stomach ailments, and illnesses related to the reproductive system especially for female workers” (Teruel, 2005). Jose Teruel, president of the labor union in Dolefil, have also claimed that: “Medical records from the Howard Hubbard Memorial Hospital owned by DolePhilippines in Polomolok, South Cotabato showed that last year, the top 10 6 chronic illnesses of workers in the Dole Philippines were hypertension, bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus, gouty arthritis, hypercholesterolemia, hyperthyroidism, other cardiovascular diseases, pulmonary tuberculosis, osteoarthritis and menopause. “Dolefil's plantation contouring and diverting natural waterways caused land scouring that caused the loss of about 380,000 cubic meters of soil or close to 2.53 million hectares furrow slice. The hydrology of the region was also extensively altered with the deposition of the drainage lines and spring waters and artificial dissection of landscape because of gullying…. Water from the plantations was diverted to the trail resulting to land wasting and erosions which also ate up sizeable portions of the farms.”