MANILA – A lawmaker expressed alarm and concern over the increasing deaths in Metro Manila of as many as 14 people a day, mostly children, due to unmitigated air pollution and other environmental degradation.
Senator Francis Escudero said a stricter implementation of the country’s Clean Air Act as well as higher penalties for violators would help minimize the adverse impact of air pollution in this metropolis of 12 million people.
Escudero cited a World Bank study which showed that close to 5,000 Metro Manila residents, or 14 people die daily from pollution-related ailments such as pneumonia in children, cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer.
“Metro Manila has proven to be lethal to its 12 million residents, killing thousands every year,†he emphasized. “The deaths have not drawn much attention because pollution kills slowly and silently.â€
Escudero lamented that the Clean Air Act, enacted in 1999, has largely been ignored because of the failure of regulatory agencies to strictly implement emission standards and the low penalties imposed on violators.
For instance, he said that the fines imposed by the Land Transportation Office for smoke-belching vehicles range the equivalent of a mere $2 to $2.25, depending on the number of past violations.
But under the Clean Air Act, Escudero said owners and drivers of motor vehicles found to be violating emission standards face a fine not exceeding $40 for the first offense, $50 for the second offense as well as $80 for the third offense plus suspension for one year of the motor vehicle registration.
He observed that with the present low fines imposed, these are not enough to compensate for the damage wrought on the people and the environment by the polluters.
Escudero also called for stricter regulation of emission testing centers to make sure that vehicles are properly examined and would pass the required standards.
All owners, operators and drivers of motor vehicles are required to submit their vehicles to these centers for testing before they are allowed to register them before the Land Transportation Office.
Based on data from the World Bank study, Escudero said Metro Manila has a total suspended particulates (TSP) level, a measurement used to determine air quality, that is often five times higher than the air quality guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Particulate emissions are largely from motor vehicles (84 percent), solid waste burning (10 percent) and industries (5.5 percent), the senator said citing the same findings from the World Bank study.
In Metro Manila, Escudero disclosed a total of 70 percent of motor vehicle emissions come from the more than 200,000 diesel-powered utility vehicles such as passenger jeepneys, and the 170,000 gasoline-powered motorcycles and tricycles.
He also said the study showed that the cost associated with treating pollution-related diseases amounted to about $50 million a year.
But what is more shocking and lamentable, Escudero stressed, is that Metro Manila accounts for the most premature deaths due to outdoor pollution, which is at 4,968, or about 12 percent of all reported deaths in the metropolis.
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