PHILIPPINE CLEAN AIR ACT - A Push Forward

Air is common good and a gift to humanity. Amongst Philippine Environmental Laws, RA No. 8749 – Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 had marked best for me, as it recognizes the right of every individual to breathe clean air, to utilize and enjoy all natural resources according to principle of sustainable development. However, this so called best environmental law of the land is yet implemented ineffectively. Based on 2005 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), Metro Manila ranks among the urban areas in the world with most polluted air – next only to Mexico City, Shanghai, and New Delhi. Metro Manila, the country’s National Capital Region (NCR), has been climbing the air pollution charts for the few years previous to 2005.

Clean air essential to good health. Unfortunately, toxic air pollutants and contaminants affect the air we breathe. Based on studies, about 80 percent of polluted air in the country comes from mobile sources such buses, cars and jeepneys. The other 20 percent is emitted by industrial sources such as power plants and factories and are sources such as open burning of garbage, smoking and construction activities.

Senate Bill 234, also called the “Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicle Act” authored by Senator Mirriam Defensor Santiago, encourages the establishment of a five-year program of replacing old and fuel-inefficient vehicles for more fuel-saving models. This was supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to reduce air-pollution and improve air quality. Countries including Singapore have such program in place, but incentives needed to make the program a success can be costly. In supporting legislation to phase out old vehicles, the DENR should make sure the country has sufficient resources for such incentives.

Clean Air Act was created year 1999, if only it was enforced and monitored accordingly, we need not Senate Bill 234 and Philippines will not be labeled as “Most Polluted Air in the World.” According to an editorial in Philippine Star (July 1, 2011), the popularity of the Light Rail and Metro Railway Transit in Metro Manila show that people want quick, efficient and relatively safe mass transportation. But the MRT and LRT cannot adequately cope with passenger volume particularly during peak hours. So people continue to use private vehicles, investing in old cars especially for their children’s use, and for days when their old cars are banned under the number coding scheme in Metro Manila.

I see efforts from DENR-EMB in terms of awareness programs through campaign in partnership with Philippine Medical Association (PMA), the Kapisanan ng Broadkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and other government agencies and local government units through Memorandum of Agreement signed December 9, 2011, to strengthen the implementation of the program to reduce air pollution from motor vehicular sources. PMA and KBP committed to help raise public awareness on the urgency of addressing the country’s worsening air pollution problem; emission testing (particular in EDSA where buses are randomly checked) that requires vehicle to undergo regular maintenance check. But, majority of public transportation owners (jeenpneys and buses) scrimp on expenses, thus, opted sending their vehicles to services in case of breakdown only. Also, there are municipalities that bans smoking in public and used of social media in reporting smoke belchers. Quoting Jim Stewart (Canadian CEO) “the first law of successful implementation is that 70% of something is better than 100% of nothing.”

Major Air Pollutants Monitored by Clean Air Act

Carbon Monoxide (CO) – It is an odorless and colorless gas produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels, including gasoline, oil and wood. It can also build up in high concentrations in enclosed areas such as garages and along roadsides during heavy traffic.

Ozone (O₃) – It is a gas that is variety of Oxygen. Ozone in the upper atmosphere is known as the ozone layer which shields the Earth from sun’s dangerous ultraviolet rays. However, at ground level it is considered a pollutant with highly toxic effects. Some of the major sources of ground-level ozone are vehicles and industries. Some of the ill effects of this pollutant include irritations in the respiratory tract, chest pain, persistent cough and an increased susceptibility to lung infection.

Nitrogen Oxide (NO_x) – Nitrogen oxides are produced from burning fuels, gasoline and coal. It is a major contributor to smog and acid rain. In high doses, smog can harm humans especially asthmatics and can cause general illness of the respiratory system. Acid rain, on the other hand, can harm vegetation and change the chemistry of the water thus affecting marine life.

Particulate Matter – It is any type of solid particles in the air in the form of smoke, dust and vapors. Particulate Matter is produced by many sources, including burning of diesel fuels by vehicles, fossil fuels, mixing and application of fertilizers and pesticides, road construction, industrial processes and operation of woodstoves. Some microscopic particles in the air can be breathed into the lungs causing increased respiratory disease and lung damage.

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) – It is an odorless gas at low concentrations, but can have a very strong smell at high concentrations. Sulfur Dioxide is a gas produced by burning coal, most notably in power plants. Some industrial processes, such as production of paper and smelting of metals, produce sulfur dioxide. It can harm vegetation and metals and can cause lung problems, including breathing problems and permanent damage to lungs.

Volatile Organic Compound (VOCs) – These are organic chemicals that are found in gasoline, industrial chemicals such as benzene, solvents such as toluene and xylene, and perchloroethylene (principal dry cleaning solvent). Vehicle emissions are an important source of VOCs. These chemicals are released from burning fuel, such as gasoline, wood, coal, and from solvents, such as paints, glues, and other products used at home or work.

CHIEF SEATTLE's 1854 SPEECH ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Fortunate that I was introduced to this poetic, beautiful and most profound statement on the environment ever made; the 1854 speech by the “Great White Chief” in Washington made an offer for large part of Indian land and promised a “reservation” for the Indian People. The speech was discussed during my Sustainable Development class – the basic, yet logical reminder of great importance of the Environment, poetic and enigmatic in many ways but every word that we are part of the Earth and it is part of us and desire to protect environment.

ALL SACRED

“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family.

NOT EASY

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great White Chief sends word he will reserve us place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

The shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of my people. The waters murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

BROTHERS

The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother. We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The Earth is not his brother, but his enemy and when he conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care.

BIRTHRIGHT

His father’s grave, and his children’s birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a dessert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night. I am red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the pinon pine.

PRECIOUS

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow’s flowers.

ONE CONDITION

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition – the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important that the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

RESPECT

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the Earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children that the Earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

Whatever befalls the Earth – befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life – he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover – Our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for red man and the white. The Earth is precious to Him, and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills bottled by talking wires.

Where is the thicket? Gone.

Where is the Eagle? Gone.

“The end of living and the beginning of survival.”

Chief Seattle

1854

THE ALCHEMIST:BEDROCK OF WISDOM

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a novel I won’t grow tired reading, as it never failed to bring comfort to my heart and soul; and continually reminds my commitment of claiming my life dreams. Over holiday, I took time off and found leisure time to re-read The Alchemist and traveled along with Santiago deciphering illuminated poetic style, metaphors and deep insights embedded in journey to pyramids. I found treasure in this book and generously shares to all of you bedrock of wisdom that makes you understand more about yourself and about life.

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and get up eight times”

“Defeat - necessary or not, they happen. When we first begin to fighting our dream, we have to experience and make mistakes.

“Each man kills the thing he loves.” – Quoting Oscar Wilde

“That at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”

“Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same current.”

“Everything in life has its price. This is what the Warriors of the Light try to teach.”

“It’s called the principle of favorability. When you play cards the first time, you are almost sure to win. Beginner’s luck – a force that wants you to realize your Personal Legend; it whets your appetite with taste of success.”

“You cannot trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

“The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon – A shepherd may like to travel, but he should never forget about his sheep.”

“When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

“All things are one.”

“The Prophet gave us the Koran, and left us just five obligations to satisfy during our lives. The most important is to believe only in the one true God.”

“You must always know what it is that you want.”

“I have been told that beauty is the great seducer of men.”

“Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.”

“Maktub – It is written!”

“Never stop dreaming; follow the omens.”

“Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”

“The desert is a capricious lady, and sometimes she drives men crazy.”

“There is a universal language, understood by everybody, but already forgotten. I am in search of that universal language, among other things. I have to find a man who knows that universal language - An alchemist.”

“The closer one gets to realizing hid Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.”

“Hunches – intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it’s all written there.”

“We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property, but this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.”

“People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.”

“We make a lot of detours, but we’re always heading for the same direction.”

“Once you get into the desert, there’s no going back, and, when you can’t go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward. The rest is up to Allah, including the danger.”

“Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive…and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us.”

“Eat when it’s time to eat. And move along when it’s time to move along.”

“The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.”

“Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.”

“It’s not what enters men’s mouth that’s evil, it’s what comes out of their mouth that is.”

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

“If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”

“Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has say that way, you’ll never have to fear an unanticipated blow.”

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with Eternity.”

“It is said that all people who are happy have God within them. And that happiness could be found in a grain of sand from the desert, because a grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe has taken millions of years to create it.”

“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him.”

“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”

“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”

“Your eyes show the strength of your soul”

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

“No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”