Air pollution kills 2,000 Pinoys a year

How much does filthy air cost?

The annual payment we make for breathing dirty air, according to the World Bank, is: 2,000 lives lost prematurely and $1.5 billion in lost wages, medical treatment in the urban sprawl of Metro Manila, and the cities of Cebu, Davao and Baguio (P79.5 billion) — a figure equivalent to two percent of the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).

The annual death toll due to air pollution was cited by Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza from the World Bank’s Philippines Environment Monitor 2002 report.

Mendoza also cited the report as showing that as many as 9,000 Filipinos in these urban areas suffer from chronic bronchitis.

After baring these alarming figures, Mendoza said the Arroyo administration is firm in its resolve to immediately implement the Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act 8749).

The World Bank report quoted a study by the University of the Philippines’ College of Public Health that traced the causes of the high mortality and morbidity rates due to respiratory illnesses like bronchitis to "the very high fine particulate emissions (PM10) generated by diesel engines, emissions from factories and power plants and solid waste burning."

These fine particulate emissions, the report said, are either emitted directly or are formed and accumulate in the atmosphere.

Health records show that deaths caused by various forms of respiratory diseases run into scores of thousands a year, including those in far-flung barrios thought to be unaffected by air pollution, Mendoza said.

Dirty air, he said, definitely contributes to the worsening of many respiratory diseases, even if air pollution does not directly cause these deaths.

The loss of lives to filthy air is not the only price paid by the public. The World Bank report said the total cost of exposure to particulate matter in Metro Manila and the three other urban areas comes to a whopping $430 million (P22.8 billion).

The Land Transportation Office is tasked with implementing the Clean Air Act. The LTO is mandated to conduct regular smoke emission tests on all vehicles and it has begun conducting mandatory emission tests prior to vehicle registration.

Some 80 percent of air pollution is generated by mobile polluters: Motor vehicles.

In Metro Manila alone, there are 55,596 jeepneys, utility vehicles and FX taxis used as shuttle services; 52,932 motorcycles and tricycles; 11,086 commuter buses; 5,000 taxi cabs; 6,619 "for hire" trucks; and an estimated 883,699 private cars and vans.

To facilitate compliance with the mandatory emission tests, the LTO has reduced its fees from P300 to P90 for public utility vehicles (PUVs). Private sector testing centers, that cater mostly to owners of private vehicles, will retain their testing fee of P300.

PUV operators and drivers were also given a 90-day grace period within which they may comply with the law, Mendoza said.

Despite these allowances, however, the government is determined to implement the Clean Air Act as the health costs generated by air pollution grow bigger.

Moreover, recent surveys showed that a majority of the people want cleaner air and 96 percent of the respondents believe that drivers of smoke-belching vehicles should be arrested and their vehicles impounded.