The plan was announced by DENR Secretary Elisea G. Gozun, saying that the "Let’s tune up to clean up the air" is part of the government’s effort to instill environmental consciousness among motorists through proper maintenance of their vehicles.
This activity is part of this year’s (April 2003) DENR’s Earth Month celebration in partnership with the Department of Energy, Land Transportation Office, Philippine National Construction Corp., and the Federation of Petroleum Dealers. It is aimed at promoting among vehicle owners the practice of regular vehicle tune-up a step in improving air quality.
Gozun stressed that one of the major problems that snags the country’s efforts to clean-up the air from vehicle emissions, particularly in Metro Manila, is the inability of vehicle owners, particularly drivers and operators of public utility vehicles, to keep their fleet in good running condition due to financial limitations.
She said that "it is disheartening to know that whenever we have dialogues with public utility drivers and operators, we get the same response that they are financially hard-up to maintain their fleet." She, however, consistently emphasized that continued use of poorly maintained vehicles does not only worsen air pollution problem but could also result to economic dislocation of drivers once the vehicles break down.
Studies have shown that a poorly tuned engine consume an average of 10 percent fuel and emits pollutants equivalent to 20 properly tuned vehicles.