Somebody Read My Blog

SOMEBODY READ MY BLOG

by Antonio C. Antonio

November 8, 2014

“From the environmental and ecological viewpoints, Philippine urban centers do have so many problems.  I have chosen to write about the urban problems and solutions of Metro Manila since this is where my family and I live.  As citizens of the biggest metropolis in the Philippines, we are exposed to its good and bad environment.” (Antonio, 2014)

In April 29, 2014, I blogged an article titled “Problems of Philippine Urban Centers” (http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-problems-of-philippine-urban-centers.html).  To aid in the analysis of the situation, I made a matrix.  The first was the PROBLEM COLUMN; the second the CAUSES COLUMN; and, the third the SOLUTIONS COLUMN.  The identified PROBLEM was “Air Pollution”, the identified CAUSE was “Old/Surplus Vehicles”; and, the identified SOLUTIONS were: “(1) Ban the importation of old and surplus motor vehicles; (2) Ban the entry of old vehicles into Metro Manila; and, (3) Pay higher motor vehicle registration fees for old vehicles.”

Last week, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) came up with a statement that the level of pollution in Metro Manila is worsening every day.  And to reduce Metro Manila’s carbon footprint and curb the rapidly deteriorating air quality in the metropolis, drastic measures had to be made.  70 to 80% of the air pollution in Metropolitan Manila is caused by vehicular emissions while 20 to 30% come from industrial emissions.  "Clearly, the key to improving Metro Manila's air quality is by addressing the biggest source of pollution, which is motor vehicles," the DENR pointed out. "We are therefore proposing an early implementation of the Euro 4 Standards for automobile fuels and the scrapping of older high-polluting vehicles.”  The DENR proposes to move the implementation of this measure from January 1, 2016 to an earlier date in the month of June 2015. 

The phasing-out of vehicles that have been operating for more than 15 years shall be done through the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).  If this is strictly followed next year, this means cars models 2000 and older will be banned from Metro Manila streets.  This will not only reduce carbon emissions but also effectively reduce the number of vehicles in the metropolis; therefore, an additional measure to solve the traffic congestion problem.  I understand that safety nets or support system are also being considered to mitigate the effect of this measure especially on the transportation sector… details of which are yet to be made public.

In April 22, 2014, I wrote another blog  titled “The Ripple Principle” (http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-ripple-principle.html) which essentially says that environmental lobbying could come in the form of “noise” created in all conceivable media (mainstream or social) outlets by ordinary citizens like us or even loosely organized pro-environment groups.  The point is simply making “noise” about our environmental concerns until this “noise” is heard by someone (or an organization; especially government) who could actually do something about it.  I’m just glad that someone read my blog.

Just my little thoughts…

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