Women Workers Accuse U.S. Celfone Plant of Giving Them Cancer

BAGUIO CITY – The biggest U.S. microchip plant based in the Philippines which has several times been awarded for outstanding community projects and export performance is being accused by its women workers of causing the cancer and cancer-related diseases they now suffer.

BY ARTEMIO A. DUMLAO 
Bulatlat.com 

Four former women workers of Texas Instruments (Philippines) Inc. are presently suffering from cancer-related diseases and other illnesses after working for an average of 10 years in the company.

Two of the victims recently came forward and claimed their illness could have been acquired or worsened by working with electronic chips for a long time.

Goiter cyst

Elizabeth Sawadi, a resident of Navy Base here, claimed in an affidavit that she developed goiter cyst, probably as a result of her work. She was employed by the company for 17 years, with a year spent in the firm’s Taiwan branch.

She claims that when she first started working in 1982, she was at the peak of her health, as evidenced by her medical and physical examinations prior to employment.

However, around 1998, she had to undergo nuclear treatment at the University of Sto. Tomas Hospital in Manila, where she was told that she would need to undergo medication for the rest of her life.

Sawadi also suffers from scoliosis, anemia and difficulty in hearing.

She resigned from the company partly because of her handicap in February 2001.

Myoma and ovarian cyst

Anna Vitalian Nisperos, 45, for her part, suffers from a ruptured ovarian cyst and myoma uteri which were diagnosed only last year.

She started working in the company in 1992. After two years, she started to experience severe constricting headaches, vomiting, palpitations, increased sweating and high blood pressure.

The company physician allegedly found her ailments to be chronic hypertension, but when she referred the matter to a neurologist, it was discovered to be hyperthyroidism.

“Due to this (I was advised) complete bed rest for 45 days, after which I went back to work and my condition worsened as my blood pressure was unstable for the whole period of five years,” Nisperos said.

She also discovered a mass in her right kidney and adrenal, and was advised to undergo medication at the Philippine General Hospital or St. Luke’s Hospital in Manila.   She had been admitted at the PGH thrice between July to August 2002. In October 2002, she was found to have developed multiple myomas, three of which had to be surgically removed.

“I believe that these were all generated by my work in plant. As a (matter of) fact, there had been deaths due to these cases among production specialists…whose sicknesses were already (found to be) on terminal state when they had consulted (other doctors) because they had relied too much on the normal result of yearly physical and medical examinations conducted within the company,” Nisperos said.

Nisperos had just been discharged from fresh confinement at the Baguio Medical Center Thursday last week.

As this developed some 27 former women workers from Texas Instruments announced they will push for justice and compensation against the said manufacturing plant.

Work-related deaths?

The complainants believe working with microchips for a long time also brought on the death of eight other women workers.

They were: Carol Juquiana, Susan Clarina, Magda Rullan, Maribel Palaruan, Eufemia Taynan, Grace Regacho, Rosaile Delos Reyes, and Jean Mejia.  They were former workers of TI who succumbed to various illnesses and died without receiving the justice they deserve.

This number may reportedly swell because of other undocumented deaths due to similar circumstances.

Major player

Texas Instruments plays a strategic role in the Baguio Export Processing Zone. TI accounts for 98 percent of the total exports of Baguio.

Women compose 98 percent of its workforce.

TI (Philippines) Inc. is the corporation’s biggest and most productive plant, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the group’s US $12 billion annual sales. It is presently undergoing expansion moves, as announced by Norberto Viera, president and managing director in October 2001.

It is the leading producer of digital scanner processors used in all Nokia phones, 80 percent for Ericsson and 60 percent for Motorola.

Over the years, it prides itself in quality management, people development programs, environmental and customer-oriented programs. It was given the People Development and Management Award in 1992, the 1995 Total Productive Maintenance Excellence Award, a Hall of Famer for Outstanding Exporter and Outstanding Community Projects and several other awards of excellence in labor standards. Bulatlat.com

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