13:30 - 16:00, International Conference Hall
Plenary Session 5
Compensation for Damages due to Asbestos
Chairs: Akira Morita and Satomi_Usijima
Alexander L. Lacson
Legal Counsel, Subic Asbestosis Victims Association (SAVA)
People's Task Force For Bases Clean-Up, Phils
ABSTRACT
I: Brief History of US Navy & Subic Naval Base in the Philippines
The U.S. Navy occupied and used Subic Naval Base in the Philippines since 1900 when Spain left the country after it sold the Philippines to America. The United States developed Subic to house the US 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific, with more than 30,000 US marines and naval soldiers. The United States built Ship Repair Facilities (SRFs), Submarine Facilities, Training Facilities, Target Ranges, among others in Subic. More than 50,000 Filipino workers were employed by the US Government to work in these facilitiesII: 1992 Withdrawal of US Navy at Subic Naval Base
The US Navy left Subic Naval Base in 1992, after the Philippine Senate rejected the Treaty that would have extended the stay of the US Navy and Air Force in the Philippines. Thereafter, more than 1,000 Filipino employees at the Ship Repair Facilities or SRFs in Subic filed asbestos cases in the US Courts in California to claim for compensation.III: The Filing of Asbestos Cases in U.S. Courts
An American lawyer by the name of Jeffrey Harrison of the Harrison & DeGarmo Law Office (later replaced by Visse & Yanez Law Firm) represented to help and file the cases for the asbestosis victims. The Filipino victims signed a Retainer Agreement with US lawyer Jeffrey Harrison, whereby the Filipino victims gave full and blanket authority to Harrison to handle the cases for them in the US, including to negotiate for settlement and to receive the settlement money. Harrison gathered as many Filipino victims as possible, gathered all their documents, and made them sign the Retainer Agreement. Harrison used and paid a Philippine Doctor at the Philippine Lung Center to conduct medical examinations on the victims. The medical reports were submitted to US courts.IV: Problems With the Handling U.S. Lawyers
Unfortunately, the American lawyers committed fraud and deceit against the victims. They did not account properly for the settlement monies paid by asbestos companies to the victims. According to the asbestos victims, out of 68 asbestos companies sued by the victims, Harrison told that only 5 to 7 companies paid settlement monies. Some victims received only $500 after 10 years of the cases, others received $2,000, while only very few received $5,000 or more. In September 2000, the Subic Asbestos Victims Association (SAVA) officers asked our legal assistance against their US lawyer, Jeffrey Harrison. We demanded a full and complete accounting from Jeffrey Harrison and his law firm, but they refused.V: Attempts To Hire New Lawyers in the U.S.
We tried hiring several lawyers and law firms in the United States to run after Jeffrey Harrison and his law firm, but we failed because they all want a down payment or Acceptance Fee of US$100,000. SAVA does not have such money There is a Philippine Senator, and a former Securities & Exchange Commission Chairman, helping the victimsVI: Present Status
To this day, we are still looking for a lawyer in the US who will be willing to accept our cases on a Success Fee basis. We are negotiating with 2 lawyers in the US at present.VII: Concluding Remarks