EcoWaste Coalition Asks Boxing Icon Manny Pacquiao to Dissociate Himself from Paints with Toxic Lead
Quezon City. In a bid to prevent further distribution of paints with high lead content in stores nationwide, the toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition urged the “people’s champ” and former Senator Manny Pacquiao to dissociate himself from a China-made lead-containing paint brand with his image and signature on the label.
In an urgent e-mail sent last week, the group notified Pacquiao that it has purchased and analyzed assorted colors of YiAD Paint depicting him as its “celebrity endorser.” He is shown on the front label wearing boxing gloves and a jacket with the YiAD logo and with his signature superimposed. The products were manufactured in May 2025 and are sold from P95 to P99.75 per450 mL can in chain stores offering low-priced goods.
“In the interest of upholding the country’s lead paint ban and the right of consumers to be protected against lead-containing paints that are hazardous to their health and life, we respectfully request you to dissociate yourself from YiAD Paint and stop the further manufacture, importation, distribution and sale of this paint bearing your photo and signature,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition.
Of the 12 YiAD paints purchased by the EcoWaste Coalition from retailers in Apalit, Pampanga, Antipolo City and Valenzuela City, seven were analyzed to contain lead in excess of 90 parts per million (ppm), the maximum limit under DENR A.O. No. 2013-24, which makes them illegal to import, distribute and sell in the Philippines.
As per X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) screening conducted by the group, the yellow YiAD Paint contains 58,390 ppm lead, while the orange, green, light green, blue, light sky blue and blue colors contain 42,690 ppm, 29,180 ppm, 28,260 ppm, 3,312 ppm, 2,502 ppm, and 2,263 ppm, respectively.
On a positive note, lead was not detected on the gold, purple, Honda red, Scarlet red, and red colors of YiAD Paint, indicating that paints can be produced without using dangerous lead-based raw materials.
While the website of YiAD Hardware Tools Co. Ltd. stated that “through deep cooperation with the legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao, a solid foundation has been established for YiAD brand products in the Philippine market,” the EcoWaste Coalition still found it necessary to verify Pacquiao’s so-called endorsement of YiAD Paint as the use of his photo and signature may lackhis official authorization. As of press time, the group has yet to receive Pacquiao’s response to its request for confirmation sent via e-mail on July 30, 2025.
“As a popular boxing icon and undisputed ‘people’s champ,’ we consider your supposed endorsement of YiAD Paint with high lead content as extremely inappropriate and unacceptable because you are promoting, albeit unwittingly, products containing lead, a highly toxic chemical forbidden in paints and similar surface coatings manufactured, imported, distributed and sold in the Philippines,” wrote Lucero to Pacquiao.
“Uninformed consumers may be lured into buying YiAD paints with undisclosed lead content, which can pose serious health risks, as your endorsement implies that the product is trustworthy, of good quality and safe to use,” she said.
The EcoWaste Coalition believed that Pacquiao was not informed about the lead content of YiAD Paint as he would not have allowed his name to be associated with a harmful chemical long acknowledged as a neurological toxicant, or a substance that can cause damage to the brain and the nervous system.
Classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the “10 chemicals of public health concern,” lead “is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including the neurologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal systems.” As emphasized by WHO, “children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead, and even relatively low levels of exposure can cause serious and in some cases irreversible neurological damage.”
As lead-containing YiAD Paints make inroads in the local market, the EcoWaste Coalition appealed to Pacquiao to intercede by asking the distributor to discontinue further importation and distribution of the products in question, and to initiate a voluntary removal of violative paints from chain stores where these are sold for environmentally-sound disposal.
“We are deeply concerned that these violative products are already being offered for sale nationwide,” said Lucero. For example, 3SP, a motor supplies store in Iloilo City, has recently posted a “fresh stock alert” on its Facebook page for multi-color YiAD Paints.
DENR A.O. 2013-24, or the Chemical Control Order (CCO) regulating lead and its compounds, banned the use of lead in the production of paints and similar surface coatings. Through the CCO, the government ordered the phase-out of lead-containing decorative paints from 2013 to 2016 and lead-containing industrial paints from 2013 to 2019, which the local paint industry supported and complied with.
Despite the completion of the phase-out period for lead-containing paints, imported leaded spray paints continue to flood the marketplace, including online shopping platforms, the EcoWaste Coalition lamented.
This prompted the group to co-publish with the Philippine Paint & Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI) and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) a “Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints” to inform consumers on which products to avoid, and to guide retailers on which products to sell. The said notice, which was last updated on March 15, 2025 in time for the World Consumer Rights Day, can be accessed here:
Comments
Post a Comment