With more than 80 percent of air pollution in the capital caused by unabated emissions of the three-million motor vehicles plying the streets of Metro Manila, environmentalists on Sunday lauded a “landmark move” of the Department of Trade and Industry to finally address an 18-year vacuum in the formulation and implementation of the Clean Air Act.
Leo Olarte, president of the Clean Air Philippines Movement Inc. said implementing Section 21-D of the law will pave the way for a national motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program to ensure that all motor vehicles are efficient and safe to operate.
With this, Olarte said residents in Metro Manila as well as in other highly urbanized regions may now enjoy cleaner air. Road mishaps will also be reduced, he added.
“In 2012, the Environment Department’s emission inventory for NCR pointed to mobile sources (motor vehicles) as culprit for the 90 percent of aggregated discharged amounts of air pollutants in the region. This directly results in deadly respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, an undeniable threat to the health and life of our people,” he said.
In June 2015, Olarte, a practicing surgeon and lawyer, led the filing of graft complaints against former Land Transportation Office chief Alfonso Tan and former DTI secretary Gregory Domingo for failure to comply with Section 21-D of the Clean Air Act.
Trade Undersecretary Ted Pascua has already created a multisectoral technical working group, which includes private stakeholders, to come up with the guidelines for Section 21-D.
“The major solution to the dangers on motor vehicle air pollution and road accidents is its regular maintenance and inspection that our government must strictly impose,” Olarte said.