Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo T. Reyes said these schools have joined the government’s call for various sectors to get their act together in vigilantly improving the quality of the air we breathe.
Reyes said the Linis Hangin Program is one of his priority concerns, saying that "no Filipino should be deprived of their right to breathe clean air and none of us can afford to continue breathing polluted air."
Member-schools of the Philippine Association of Tertiary Level Educational Institutions in Environmental Protection and Management (PATLEPAM), the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines, and other schools are supporting initiatives to highlight the national celebration of Clean Air Month this year.
Various fora on the Clean Air Act directives for vehicular sources of air pollution, preventive maintenance of vehicles and alternative fuels for cleaner air and cost savings, building smoke-belching- free campuses, and the roles and commitments of school sectors in the Linis Hangin Program, have been conducted nationwide.
In the drive towards nationwide institutionalization of the Bantay Tambutso sa Eskwela program, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Education (DepEd), endorsed the Program implementation beginning this year.
Likewise, Undersecretary Ramon Bacani of the DepEd issued a memorandum last April 4 directing all its bureau/regional directors, school division superintendents and private school administrators to adopt the "Bantay Tambutso sa Eskwela" program.
Several sectors of the Philippine society are being tapped to serve as linkages in the continuing efforts of the EMB-DENR to promote air-related activities to its target stakeholders. The academic community, particularly the elementary, secondary, technical and vocational, and the higher education institutions are being looked upon as models/focal venues to articulate and provide strategic complementary actions to pursue the overall objectives of the National Clean Air Program. – Benny Enriquez