In hot pursuit of healthy air for all

Arriving from a trip out of Cebu, I expected another painstaking hour of waiting in the increasingly alarming traffic congestion in our cities. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. It was a smooth flow all the way from the airport to my meeting place in Cebu City.

It seems that the ongoing APEC summit has something to do with the vastly transformed scenery in our streets. One can’t help but notice also  police visibility, which we hope should be a regular sight, considering the unsolved shooting spree which might become normal in our beloved Cebu.

Showing our best foot forward for foreign visitors to be happy and feel at home in our country is a distinctly Filipino brand of hospitality. I am proud of the fact that we are counted as among the warmest in the entire world.

The nagging question, however, is this: why can’t we sustain delivering the same brand of excellent service for our own citizens, whether or not an international conference is taking place?

People expect state agencies to be sensitive to their plight and to be fully conscious of the human-hours lost and time wasted being stuck in vehicles-clogged and flooded areas. The road works that are done simultaneously, mostly half-done, speak a lot about the lack of planning in government and a gross disregard of the rights of the constituents, such as the right to breathe fresh air  and to participate in decision-making. The increased polluting  carbon emissions from idling engines and the damage to our health are not even factored in the costs.

If  authorities do care for our welfare, and not just claim to be so during the campaign period, they make sure that street projects are done on a 24-hour basis. They will refuse to  add to the clutter of the landscape the seemingly endless start-up projects. Surely, better coordination can be done among national agencies, the local government units, including the barangays, and the local residents, who are, most often, not even consulted.

Apart from the road projects, there are too many vehicles competing for road space, amid the still largely unmonitored air pollution level and a study of its negative effects to our health. Property right cannot reign supreme over the responsibility of the State to ensure that the quality of life and the right to breathe fresh air of citizens are not impaired.

The strict regulation of the emissions of the sources of air pollution, from factories, power plants to   vehicles, and the honest disclosure to the public, is called for, before it gets worse.

Under RA 8749,  known as the  Clean Air Act of 1999, the DENR “shall prepare an annual National Air Quality Status Report which shall be used as the basis in formulating the Integrated Air Quality Improvement Framework…  The said report shall include…the following:

a) Extent of pollution in the country, per type of pollutant and per type of source, based on reports of the Department’s monitoring stations;
b) Analysis and evaluation of the current state, trends and projections of air pollution at the various levels provided herein;
c) Identification of critical areas, activities, or projects which will need closer monitoring or  regulation;
d) Recommendations for necessary executive and legislative action; and
e) Other pertinent qualitative and quantitative information concerning the extent of air pollution and the air quality performance rating of industries in the country…”

Not many are aware that since the law’s enactment, these standards have not been upgraded, to be at par with  the  World Health Organization’s and those of other countries, except perhaps for mercury regulation. No wonder the Environmental Management Bureau of  DENR comes up with “Fair” condition of the air, which should not lull us into a false sense of complacency.

There is a compelling need for our government,  also including LGUs, to come up with the required Air Quality Control Action Plan. A local government unit without such a plan, the crafting of which is participated in by the people, is bereft of any authority to grant permits for polluting industries and allow more transportation utilities to operate in their locality.

The Metro Cebu Air Shed Board has to be functioning and not remain a paper board. It should require regular reporting and data on the quality of  air, and even upgrade the standards of allowable pollution level for the different kinds of substances. This report at the local level should be the basis for a decision to allow more sources of pollution to operate such as coal power plant and permits for road use. That is, if still warranted by the carrying capacity of our natural life support systems and the quality of life of our people, which is doubtful, looking at the smog in the skylines.

We wish that government instead puts in place infrastructures that encourage people to walk, to bike, to savor  a lush greenery that shelters them from the sweltering heat, recharges aquifers, protect us from landslides, and captures the polluting carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas to have a cleaner environment.

The health of the people and our environment should be a top priority, right? We should be in hot pursuit of healthy air for all, for a start.