DAVAO City remains to have a “good air quality” level despite its highly urbanized status.
This was revealed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau in Davao (DENR-EMB 11) during the Kapihan sa PIA last June 28, 2019, at NCCC Buhangin.
Melvin Dapitanon, head of the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Unit of DENR-EMB 11, said based on their recent monitoring this year, the city’s air quality remains “good” with its microgram at 0-54 normal cubic meter (ncm).
The microgram per normal cubic meter (ncm) in the air must be below 150 to be considered as fair. Beyond this number is considered unhealthy already. The guideline values of good is 0-54 while fair is from 55-150.
He said the result is based on the gathered data from their four manual monitoring systems that are spread throughout the city which are located in Toril, Maa, V. Mapa Street, and Ilang.
Meanwhile their automatic stations, which are located in Calinan National High School and in Davao International Airport, are capable of sending data online to national.
“So presently, based on our monitoring last year, our air quality in Davao City is still 'good'. So why Davao City? This is the most populated city in Davao Region and nandito lahat ng industries, population, and also the mobile. Dito nag-focus ang EMB,” he said.
They are also planning to put up the same monitoring systems in the cities of Tagum and Digos since these two are also progressing.
“The EMB is mandated to regulate the industries so we check regularly ang mga stacks sa mga industries such as power plants and cement [company]. Hindi lang EMB ang nagaka-conduct, due to limited resources, meron tayong third party accredited sampler. The whole region, na-cover gyud siya nga ma-monitor ang stacks,” he said.
So far, he said these industries have complied with the limit based on the emission results since these industries have their pollution control devices and will undergo cleaning process before the gas will be discharged to the atmosphere.
In 2016, Davao City was declared as the Cleanest City and Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was named as Clean Air Champion. The city was chosen because of the ordinances it has passed that protect the air quality, such as the anti-belching ordinance, anti-smoking and the firecracker ban that are strictly implemented by the local government.
Aside from the enforcement of the policies, there is also active partnership with other government agencies and the presence of green spaces. With the plan of the city to shift to High Priority Bus System (HPBS), it will further improve the air quality since the Public Utility Jeepney will be eliminated and the new transport system will be using Euro 4 for their engine which is good for the air.