Tuesday, July 01, 2008 City Council bans smoke-belching vehicles By Ernie Olson Jr.
SMOKE-belching vehicles and drivers plying the city's streets will soon be made to pay a fine ranging from P1,000 to P3,000 once the Clean Air Ordinance of Baguio is approved.
This, after the proposed ordinance introduced by Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia last year to penalize smoke-belching vehicles in Baguio was recommended for approval by the City Council's committee on health and sanitation, ecology and environmental protection, handicapped and differently-abled persons after second reading and publication last week.
He said the City Government upholds the principle that "polluters must pay" and a clean and healthy environment must be the concern of all its constituents.
"Once approved, all vehicles, whether public, private, found violating the emission standards set forth in this ordinance, shall be prohibited from plying within the territorial jurisdiction of the city of Baguio at all times," Balajadia said.
Aside from this, all offenders will be made to undergo a seminar on pollution control and management conducted by a Clean Air Monitoring Unit (Camu) to be created by the City Government. And in case the third offense was committed within a year from the commission of the first offense, an additional penalty of suspension of the motor vehicle's registration and driver's license, and franchise for public utility vehicles (PUVs), for a period of one year shall be recommended to the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
"Any motor vehicle suspected of violating emission standards set forth in Section 6 of this ordinance, as evidenced by, but not limited to, the excessive emission of smoke, shall be subjected to an emission test by Camu," said the councilor.
The Camu will be created through the City Environment and Parks Management Office (Cepmo), and may be complemented by other government organizations (GOs), non-government organizations (NGOs), the academe, and other civil society organizations during the conduct of Camu roadside inspection, testing and monitoring team (Ritmat) operations.
Said organizations shall be identified in an appropriate order to be issued by the city mayor.
"It is a fact that emission from motor vehicles is a major cause of air pollution, and the consequent deteriorating ambient air quality in Baguio is posing serious health risks to the populace, specially the vulnerable sector that includes children and the elderly," he said.
Records of the City Health Services Office showed that for the past five years, three of the 10 leading causes of morbidity in Baguio are respiratory ailments that can be caused or aggravated by air pollution, noting in particular the resurgence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the past four years, one of the leading causes of mortality in the city which is raising concern among health experts.
He said the City Government could significantly improve ambient air quality within its jurisdiction by accepting and fulfilling its responsibility for enforcing emission standards for motor vehicles in its jurisdiction.
Balajadia added that once the ordinance is approved, all vehicles which fail roadside emission-testing shall undergo a validation emission testing by the Camu after the necessary maintenance or repair has been undertaken by the vehicle owner, driver or operator.
A validation emission-testing fee of P100 shall be paid by the offender at the City Treasurer's Office prior to validation emission testing to be conducted by the Camu.
Once this has been done, a validation emission certificate (VEC) will be issued by the Camu testing team, should emission be within the standard specified in Section 6 of this ordinance. The Camu VEC will be a prerequisite in the retrieval of the vehicle's license plates and/or the driver's license.
On the other hand, for those who volunteer to have their vehicles tested at the Camu office, for self-monitoring purposes, a P50 testing fee will be charged. No request for voluntary testing shall be accepted by the Camu during Ritmat operations.
