Calling for full disclosure on chemical discharges, Greenpeace activists today launched a three-week expedition in the capital to examine and document sources of toxic pollution. The program to analyze factory contamination of rivers around Metro Manila will cover 85 kms, from Marikina River to Laguna Lake. "Communities along our rivers and lakes directly bear the brunt of these toxic discharges which can ultimately contaminate our source of drinking water," said Beau Baconguis, campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The group is also calling for a pollution disclosure mandate, forcing industrial facilities to publicly declare the chemicals used in their products and manufacturing processes, and to state how these chemicals are discharged, treated and transported. Baconguis said the government has no exact data on what chemicals are being discharged into the water. Countries that have adopted such policies were able to reduce levels of water pollution, he said. "Only when policies like these are in place, will facilities more likely choose not to use hazardous chemicals, and be mindful of the wastes they discharge into water bodies.”