Baguio air pollution within ‘tolerable levels,’ mayor insists

"Baguio’s air is definitely safe and will not compromise public health."

Thus said Baguio City Mayor Bernardo Vergara in reaction to a STAR report on World Bank findings that the summer capital’s air has the highest concentration of PM10 particles emitted by diesel engines, power generation using fossil fuels and burning of solid wastes, compared to Metro Manila and the cities of Cebu and Davao.

Baguio’s air pollution "remains within tolerable levels," Vergara said in a statement.

He described the World Bank report as "extremely exaggerated, truly unfortunate and the product of a misinterpreted finding."

Vergara quoted the Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as saying that the "ambient air quality" in Baguio "is still within the ‘good to fair’ condition."

"There is therefore no basis in unduly alarming and scaring our visitors," he said.

He cited results of regular tests from 1997 to 2001 by the Environmental Management Bureau of the regional DENR office showing that city’s air pollution level "remains safe" and "does not compromise the health conditions of the populace as well as its regular influx of tourists."

Vergara said, "What has been published as allegedly Baguio’s above-average air pollution level was based on the data obtained from the city’s business district, only at lower Session Road, and not representative of the entire city’s air quality profile and definitively much better than Quiapo in Manila and other heavily polluted areas in other cities."

‘Not a daily occurrence’

He said the reported high concentration of TSPs (total suspended particulates) "is not a daily occurrence," adding that it mostly happens during the dry season.

Areas outside the business zone such as Camp John Hay, Pacdal, Loakan, Irisan, Burnham Park and City Hall, yield "good" ambient air levels, he said.

Vergara said air pollution tests at lower Session Road in the city’s business section should have been cross-validated first against actual conditions throughout the city.

"While we concede that air pollution has now become a vital problem to many highly urbanized cities, including our own, our air quality has considerably improved in recent years," he said.

Vergara said the city government has been zealous in its environmental efforts although he lamented that until now the regional office of the Department of Transportation and Communications has not delegated authority for it to subject public and private vehicles to emission tests.

He cited recent traffic and transportation management studies as showing "a gradual reduction in pollution levels as a result of a relentless (anti-)smoke-belching drive sustained through the years."