ILOILO City – Large portions of Western Visayas remain without permanent air-quality monitoring stations, prompting the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to urge local governments to invest millions of pesos in their own equipment as vehicle emissions and other pollution sources continue to threaten the region’s air.
The EMB Region 6 admitted that its limited resources prevent it from establishing monitoring stations in every province, leaving Antique, Capiz and Guimaras without EMB-operated stations.
The agency is now encouraging local government units (LGUs), particularly those without monitoring facilities, to allocate funds for their own ambient air-quality monitoring equipment.
“Ang Metro Iloilo Airshed is the only established airshed diri sa Region 6 kag ang aton stations ara sa Leganes, Oton, Pavia, San Miguel and duha sa Iloilo City,” said Engr. Shiela Mae Portillo, officer-in-charge chief of EMB-6’s Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division.
EMB-6 currently maintains monitoring stations at the Garden of Love in Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz district and La Paz Plaza, both in Iloilo City; San Miguel Public Market in San Miguel town; Pavia National High School in Pavia; Oton Evacuation Center in Oton; and Napnud Elementary School in Leganes.
However, only the Garden of Love station provides continuous, real-time air-quality readings. The other stations are manually operated, requiring samples to be sent to a laboratory before results can be released.
EMB-6 also conducts quarterly air-quality monitoring on Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan.
Portillo said monitoring areas outside the existing network is difficult because EMB-6 has to transport equipment to the locality and keep it there for days or even weeks to obtain consistent readings.
The existing monitoring stations can also cover only areas within a radius of up to 20 kilometers from the equipment, further limiting the government’s ability to determine air conditions across the region.
“Ang aton equipment abi indi man basta-basta ang presyo. So, we encourage man government offices, sa local governments naton nga mag-invest man sila in procuring air quality monitoring equipment,” Portillo said.
An LGU seeking continuous real-time monitoring would have to spend at least P10 million for equipment similar to that installed at the Garden of Love station.
Manual monitoring equipment, meanwhile, costs between P2 million and P3 million each.
Beyond purchasing the equipment, LGUs would also have to invest in the necessary infrastructure and train personnel to operate the monitoring systems.
AIR QUALITY DETERIORATES
The call for wider monitoring comes as EMB-6 recorded recent episodes of deteriorating air quality in Iloilo City.
Portillo said that since the monitoring stations were established in 2012, air quality in Iloilo City and the nearby municipalities of Oton, Pavia and Leganes has generally remained within the “good to fair” categories.
However, readings from the Garden of Love station showed that air quality shifted from “good” to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” on the afternoon of Sept. 1 and again on the morning of Sept. 3.
The classification means air conditions may pose greater risks to people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, who are advised to limit outdoor exertion.
EMB-6 identified emissions from vehicles as one of the major contributors to air pollution in Western Visayas. Other sources include the burning of garbage and agricultural products, generator sets and construction activities.
Portillo urged residents to regularly check the air-quality monitoring updates released through its Facebook page, particularly households with members belonging to vulnerable sectors, so they can take appropriate precautions when air conditions deteriorate.
The call comes ahead of the observance of the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on Sept. 7./PN
