Gov't urged: Monitor leaded gas phaseout

Sen. Gregorio Honasan urged the government yesterday to put mechanisms in place to ensure that oil firms comply with the phaseout of leaded gasoline, as mandated by the Clean Air Act, on April 1.

"We did not go through the tedious process of legislating the landmark Clean Air Act just so oil companies could laugh behind our backs and think they can deceive the government and the public and get away with it," said Honasan, vice chairman of the Senate committee on environment and principal author of the Act.

He noted though that the oil firms have introduced lead-free gasoline in the market in compliance with the law: Vortex for Caltex; XCS plus Valvemaster for Petron; Super Premium for Pilipinas Shell; and G5-x for Seaoil.

However, Honasan said the government should make sure that "these oil companies are telling the truth when they claim they have phased out lead."

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez sees a significant decline in the incidence of respiratory diseases and other pollution-related ailments with the phaseout of leaded gasoline.

Romualdez cited current data showing that about two million Filipinos are suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to air pollution and smoking.

Studies revealed that 90 percent of lead in the air comes from vehicles using leaded gasoline.