ENVIRONMENTAL groups have called on the government to address the country’s outdated air quality standard and the lack of capacity to monitor PM2.5 especially in provinces with coal plants.
PM2.5 refers to particles that have diameters less than 2.5 micrometers. These particles remain suspended in the air longer, hence, making them more hazardous to human health.
Environment groups Greenpeace Philippines and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) believe that the first step to protecting Filipinos from air pollution is by enhancing the capacity to monitor and measure PM2.5.
In a statement, the groups said the “outdated air quality standard” in the Philippines cast doubt on the government’s capacity to protect Filipinos from the worsening air pollution. They said this is exacerbated by the country’s dependence on coal, which was “responsible for over a thousand premature deaths in 2019.”
As the government focuses on economic recovery efforts from the pandemic, programs to control air pollution must not be sidetracked, the groups said in statements.
These programs include raising stringent standards to control emissions from coal power plants, adding more air quality monitoring stations, investing in low-carbon transport, and transitioning to renewable energy sources.
“The threat of air pollution to human health—and the external costs associated with long-term exposure to it—increases with growing dependence on fossil fuels. In addressing this problem, robust monitoring capacity across the country is vital for not only understanding the scale of the health threat to Filipinos, but also ensuring that the right standards and solutions are pursued to control air pollution as quickly as possible,” CREA Analyst Isabella Suarez said.
Greenpeace Philippines Campaigner Khevin Yu said the government must first address the outdated air quality standards and the lack of capacity to monitor PM2.5, especially in provinces with coal plants, to ensure that measures to protect Filipinos from health risks are in place.
The Clean Air Act requires the Department of Environment and Natural Resources—Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) to conduct a review of standards for stationary sources every two years and revise for further improvement. However, the National Emission Standards for Source-Specific Air Pollutants have not been updated since they were set in 1999.
At present, the Philippines only has a fleet of 55 government-owned PM2.5 monitoring stations. Twenty-two are stationed in Metro Manila, while some are not strategically located in areas with high PM2.5 concentrations, such as major highways and coal plants. Bataan, which houses major megawatt-coal plants, has a lone PM2.5 monitor for the whole province, according to Greenpeace and Crea.
“Now more than ever, the government needs to ensure stringent air pollution mitigation because the surge of air pollution that may arise from the reopening of our economy increases our vulnerability to Covid-19,” Yu said.
“The number of deaths due to coal-induced air pollution will only rise if the government continues to force us to breathe blindly. We need policy developments to uphold our right to clean air by first providing needed information on air quality to the public,” he added.
The groups believe that improving country-wide air quality monitoring will enable local governments to take measures to mitigate the impacts of air pollution originating from coal plants and heavily polluting facilities.
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