Crackdown on smoke belchers

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) gave yesterday all motorists until Thursday to check their vehicles for smoke emission as the agency starts its rejuvenated campaign against air pollution on Friday.

DOTC Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez said the crack down would initially start along EDSA where trained enforcers would be on the lookout for smoke belchers.

"I am giving public transport operators and private owners until Thursday this week to correct their vehicles or face fines. This will be a relentless campaign to eliminate air pollution," he told a press briefing.

Alvarez noted that initially, enforcers from the DOTC and Land Office would be deployed on EDSA to apprehend smoke belchers. The program is a component of the Clean Air Act.

Under the law, a fine of P1,000 awaits violators on the first offense while a fine of P3,000 plus confiscation of license plates will be imposed for the second offense.

For a third offense, violators will be fined P5,000 while their registrations and driver’s licenses will be suspended for one year. They will also be required to undergo seminars.

"They will flag down vehicles that visibly emit black smoke. These vehicles will then be tested for smoke emission through the portable equipment that our enforcers have," he noted.

The DOTC has also coordinated with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group and non-governmental organizations like Bantay Kalikasan and Partnership for Clean Air.

Various studies show that Metro Manila has the most polluted air in the country and the primary sources of this pollution are motor vehicles.

At present, there are 3.7 million motor vehicles nationwide, 2.8 of which are private. About 40 percent of these vehicles are operating in the metropolis.

"No one will be spared from the campaign. Both private and public utility vehicles, if they are found to be belching black smoke, will be apprehended," Alvarez added.