* Metro Cebu’s Air Quality Index reached 106 on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, remaining classified as "unhealthy for sensitive groups" due to smoke from Indonesian land and forest fires.
* The Environmental Management Bureau 7 advised individuals with respiratory illnesses to limit outdoor exertion, regularly monitor updates, and wear well-fitting N95 or KN95 face masks.
* Pagasa forecasted cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms across most of the Visayas on Monday, Oct. 5, caused by the trough of tropical cyclone Choi-Wan.
METRO Cebu’s air quality remained “unhealthy for sensitive groups” on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 106 at 4 p.m.
The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 recorded an AQI of 108 at 7 a.m. and 105 at 11 a.m., both classified as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
The bureau advised people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, to limit outdoor exertion.
Meanwhile, the EMB 7 monitoring station in Barangay Cabitoonan, Toledo City, recorded an AQI of 23 at 4 p.m., classified as “good.” It recorded AQI readings of 19 at 11 a.m. and 18 at 7 a.m., also classified as “good.”
The current air quality in Metro Cebu has been attributed to forest and land fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, that have continued to burn during the region’s dry season, with authorities deploying ground crews and aircraft to contain the fires.
The fires have damaged forest and peatland areas and generated smoke and fine particulate matter that can remain in the atmosphere and travel beyond the areas where the fires are burning. The resulting haze has reached neighboring areas, with prevailing winds carrying smoke from Indonesia toward the Philippines and contributing to elevated particulate levels in parts of Central Visayas and elsewhere in the country.
EMB 7 continues to monitor ambient air quality in the region and urged the public to regularly check its latest air quality updates
and advisories.
The agency also advised the public to wear well-fitting face masks, such as N95 or KN95 masks.
Weather forecast
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said most parts of the Visayas will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms on Monday, Oct. 5, due to the trough of tropical cyclone Choi-Wan.
Similar weather conditions are expected over Caraga, Northern Mindanao, the Zamboanga Peninsula and Masbate during the period.
The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms.
From Tuesday to Wednesday, Oct. 6 to 7, Caraga, Northern Mindanao, the Zamboanga Peninsula, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Soccsksargen and Palawan will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due to the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
The rest of the country will generally have partly cloudy to cloudy skies, with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening. / DPC