For many Filipinos, the name Smokey Mountain immediately evokes images of towering piles of garbage, smoke-filled skies, and families struggling to survive in one of the country's most recognizable dumpsites. Located in Tondo, Manila, Smokey Mountain became one of the largest open dumpsites in the Philippines and, for decades, served as both Metro Manila's disposal site and the workplace of thousands of informal waste workers.
Accountability must extend beyond administrative fines. Justice requires that workplace tragedies not be repeated, OSH systems be strengthened, and those responsible be held fully accountable. The current OSH Law should be amended to make this possible.
The fight for environmental protection and justice is inseparable from the struggle for workers' health, safety, and rights. IOHSAD commits to raising workers' awareness of this inseparable connection and to assisting them in confronting violations and neglect of their fundamental occupational, environmental, and health and safety (OEHS) rights.
The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has been pushing for the criminalization of OSH standards violations, and the recent building collapse in Angeles, Pampanga that has already claimed 27 lives makes this campaign more urgent than ever.
This April 2026 special issue of ASSERT is one of the outputs of Ms. Beatrice Fernandez’ students from the UP Manila Political Science NSTP program. The IOHSAD team extends our gratitude for the efforts and work poured by the students, from planning and actual press work, to complete and release this newsletter.
