Philippines can’t sue Indonesia over haze

CEBU, Philippines - The best Cebu and the country can do is continue calling the attention of Indonesia on the current problem of haze that has reached the Philippines, which is traced to the wildfires in other country.

"We do not have legal standing to sue the government of Indonesia. Instead, we have to continue our call to our government to work for us," said lawyer Gloria Ramos, co-founder of Philippine Earth Justice System.

Eddie Llamedo, information officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – 7, also said, "All we can do is to call their attention, cooperation, have dialogue on what measures to pursue."

The Philippines is one of the signatories of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution that was signed on June 10, 2002.

The agreement is a legally binding environmental agreement by ASEAN countries to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia, according to the ASEAN secretariat.

Other signatories in the agreement are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Haze pollution, as defined in the agreement, means smoke resulting from land and/or forest fire, which causes “deleterious effects of such nature as to endanger human health, harm living resources, and ecosystems and material property and impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment.”

Ramos said, however, that the blame cannot be put solely on Indonesia.

"We cannot blame everything to Indonesia and to our government. We, as people, are also polluting our environment. Kitang tanan polluters sa atong environment," she said.

Status

A thick haze has polluted the skies above several areas in the country, Cebu included.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau said the quality of air in Cebu is improving.

Meanwhile, Renann Cimafranca, regional epidemiologist of the Department of Health-7, said the agency has not recorded any report of anyone getting sick due to haze. 

"So far, wa pa may doctors or hospitals ang ni- report sa among opisina nga naay nangasakit tungod sa haze," Cimafranca said.

Meanwhile, Department of Trade and Industry – Cebu Province head Nelia Navarro said prices of the N95 mask at local drugstores remained the same as of yesterday.

Zaide Bati-on, chief of the Consumer Welfare and Business Regulation Division of DTI-Cebu, said the other only three stores are selling the mask, including Mercury Drug at P100 each, Machealth Depot at P95 each, and Universe at P75 each.

EMB-7 Director William Cuñado said that with the new ambient air monitoring result, it is now up to each individual to whether or not to use the mask, but said EMB-7 continues to recommend the use of N95 dust mask and goggles especially among those with heart or lung diseases and children.

Cuñado said further that while air quality has improved, continuous inhalation and exposure even to smaller concentrations of particles may result to its accumulation in the body, which may cause health problems. — /JMO (FREEMAN)