Welcome to Metro Manila, the world’s 3rd most polluted city next to Mexico and Shanghai.
Very recently, an eight-year-old boy was found dead in his makeshift shanty located underneath one of the overpasses in EDSA. Forensic doctors concluded, cause of death: acute asthma. He was likewise diagnosed to have very high lead content in his blood.
From my own experience, a hardworking middle-class executive from our firm recently contracted lung cancer, or adeno carcinoma. It’s an acute form of lung disease that attacked his upper left lobe, causing the growth of a malignant tumor, the production of liquid in his pulmonary sacs, making it very difficult to breathe. His only vice? For the past 10 years he would brisk-walk everyday around his subdivision. Chances are, he contracted this disease due to the severe presence of carbon monoxide in the area where he lives. It’s as if he smoked 10 packs of cigarettes a day.
A couple of years ago, after a round of golf in one of the exclusive golf clubs in Metro Manila, a wealthy businessman suddenly collapsed face first on the green. He was diagnosed as having expired from an angina attack, a heart condition characterized by a sudden squeezing pain in the chest. It was confirmed by witnesses that it was a very bad day for golf due to extremely high carbon monoxide particles in the air surrounding the area.
What does this tell each of us? That no one — absolutely no one — whether rich, poor or middle class, is exempted from the death threat of pollution.
If we will go by the Filipino way of thinking, we are pretty much connected with the Vatican. We’re the only Christian country in Asia, and yet, according to a Brussels-based research group, the Philippines is the most disaster prone country in the world. Because of these findings, one is often tempted to question one’s faith, and ask God "Why does this country have so many problems?" A priest once told me that it’s probably just God’s way of testing the country. But how many more tests do we have to go through? Pollution is surely man-made, and as such, it can be solved.
The pollution level in Metro Manila is fast swelling despite the passing of the Clean Air Act Bill of 1999. In the country, deaths due to pollution have reached 8,000 from 6,000 just a year ago. Moreover, four Filipinos die of cancer every hour, nine of various heart ailments every minute – with children below 15 dying of heart disease every nine minutes. Of child vendors who litter the streets of Metro Manila, 33 out of 100 have more than the standard 20 micrograms of lead per tenth litter of their blood. Vehicle density rose from 675,310 in 1990 to 1.2 million in 1998, to more than two million in 2001. It’s not an overstatement to say that where there is vehicle congestion, there is death in the air.
Basing it on the supposed merits of the Clean Air Act, ever since it was passed, by now we should be seeing a little improvement in the environment, forming manageable pollution levels in our airsheds and watersheds. But there are more questions now than answers, more contamination than our bodies can actually tolerate. And why is this so? Because the Clean Air Act is a hard act to follow! In some instances, the terms are too stringent, in others, too restrictive and confining. In fact, I will go on to say that for the most part, it is unimplementable, and thus, lamentable. Perhaps, it’s the old Filipino trait "pwede na yan!" or the more pitiable quick-fix solutions we regularly employ that made this law more than what it should be. Most people can understand why at times we need to have a sense of urgency, but it should not be at the expense of practicality. What good would a piece of legislation do if it is unrealistic, or worse, too hard to implement?
Take for example Section 20 of the Clean Air Act where our legislators banned incineration technology, and yet allowed the so-called open air "small-scale burning" of community wastes. What kind of proviso is that? Are our legislators telling us it is safer to conduct open-air burning of community garbage than the use of high-tech incineration systems? It just doesn’t make sense. Most major cities in the world, from Tokyo to Paris — which, by the way, have very strict environmental laws – have used incineration technology for years, and this is the reason why these cities have steadily enjoyed very low and manageable pollution levels.
And whatever happened to the motor vehicle inspection centers? Apparently, even the government is having a hard time implementing the law! Everyday, deadly black fumes are being emitted by smoke belchers with utter disrespect for the law. Pollution has already reached Batangas, and even Baguio. Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro are not far behind.
MMDA chief Bayani Fernando may just be the hero of our time. I certainly hope he would take the lead in providing the answer to this silent assassin. Metro Manila is in the thick of an air quality crisis. This is not just an issue to be taken up and deliberated on a political platform. It’s clearly a battle for our very lives!
Politics and pollution is in itself a contaminated mix. If there’s anything political that we can mix with the problem of pollution, it must be political will. Both Houses of Congress, Malacanang and the Supreme Court must address this pressing issue today, not tomorrow. It won’t matter anymore who gets the waste management contract when we reach 100,000 deaths a year. At the end of the day, the country’s true wealth is the well-being of its people.
Simply said, health is wealth.