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Sunday, March 16, 2003
Air in city's central district 'really bad': WB
By Harley Palangchao
BAGUIO -- An official of the World Bank has affirmed its earlier findings on the city's air pollution problem specifically in its central business district being the highest compared to other key urban areas like Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao.
Robert Vance Pulley, WB director for the Philippines and East Asia and Pacific Region, in a letter to Mayor Bernardo Vergara said, "the Environment Monitor 2002 relied on available data collected by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and Regions 6 and 11, from the monitoring stations along Session Road, the main artery of the city."
Pulley clarified, however, that it is the city's central business district which registered the highest average level of total suspended particulates.
The other key urban areas compared to Baguio are Metro Manila, Davao and Cebu which are all in low-lying areas unlike Baguio which is 5,000 feet above sea level.
"Thus, the data are indicative of the air quality in downtown Baguio only. With this data, Baguio is estimated to have the highest total suspended particulates among four major cities for 2001," Pulley stressed.
Total suspended particulates are solid matter or liquid droplets from smoke, dust, fuel ash, or condensing vapors that can be suspended in the air. They either come from natural sources or from man-made sources such as diesel exhausts, construction activities and factories.
"Emissions caused by mobile and stationary sources contribute to air pollution in any city, and the problem is further compounded in Baguio by unfavorable meteorological conditions like temperature inversions and low wind speeds," Pulley explained.
Vergara, together with other local officials, earlier questioned newspaper reports that Baguio is the most polluted city in the country, supposedly based on the WB findings.
They claimed that while it maybe true that the urban air of the city is polluted, the report should not include the whole of Baguio as there are other areas here that generally have 'good' air quality.
The officials added that the WB report sharply contrasted with the report of the Air Quality Monitoring of the DENR-Cordillera, which said that Baguio's air is "fair to good."
Pulley, however, said that the average annual total suspended particles levels in the city's central business district continue to exceed the DENR guideline value of 90 micrograms per cubic meter.
He added that the monitor also estimates the cost of health impact for Manila, Davao, Cebu and Baguio based on established methodology.
"By estimating the health cost, the monitor (report) highlights the damage caused by air pollution, which we believe provides an opportunity to stimulate discussion stakeholders, while at the same time, inform the public of long-term impacts of air pollution," Pulley explained.
He said polluted cities are incurring annual losses of about P500 million due to health cases.
In the city, Pulley said in an earlier report that there were 311 recorded cases of chronic bronchitis in 2001, 49 of which resulted in deaths. But he clarified that he has "not gone to a public forum in Baguio to talk about the air situation in the city, as some newspapers have reported."
Baguio, at 5,000 feet above sea level, has a daytime population of 300,000 compared to Metro Manila's 10.04 million, Davao City's 1.018 million and Cebu City's 730,000, according to the World Bank study.
Considering the impact of pollution in urban areas, Pulley also recommended that the national and local governments evaluate control options and enforce the Clean Air Act of 2000 to reduce the air pollution in all major cities in the Philippines.(Sun.Star Baguio)
(March 16, 2003 issue)
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