The National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force (NAECTF) will start impounding smoke-belching vehicles next month as part of the campaign for better air quality in Metro Manila.
To do this, Environment Undersecretary and concurrent NAECTF chief Arturo T. Valdez told the BusinessMirror that they are now looking for a bigger impounding area.
“We will be needing at least 10 hectares before we start the crackdown on erring motor-vehicle owners,” Valdez said. Upon the instruction of Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, he said, the NAECTF is now preparing to launch the intensified campaign.
Meetings, he added, have been conducted with various transport groups over the past few weeks, and that leaders and members of these groups were warned of the consequence of being apprehended for smoke belching.
The campaign will cover both private- and public-utility vehicles, Valdez said.
The environment undersecretary added that they are still negotiating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to allow them to use any of the camps outside Metro Manila as possible impounding area. One area being eyed by the NAECTF is an area in Tanay, Rizal.
“We want to let the motorists know as a warning that we will start impounding their vehicles…[that] fail smoke-emission test,” he said.
Checkpoints will be put up in strategic locations as part of the campaign.
“To avoid the inconvenience and cost of having your vehicle impounded for smoke belching, we encourage owners of public-utility and private vehicles to take measures,” Valdez, speaking mostly in Tagalog, told the BusinessMirror in an interview.
Valdez said the NAECTF will charge owners of vehicles higher fees, from towing to impounding.
“Once your vehicles are towed to the impounding area, you [vehicle owner] have to pay for towing, impounding fee and penalty. Before we release the vehicles, we will make sure that the vehicles are roadworthy. This means the owner of the vehicle must bring along a mechanic to the impounding area to fix the vehicle,” he said.
According to Valdez, unlike before, the campaign only calls for the removal of license plates. But the penalty this time around, he stressed, will be more severe, and there will be no letup.
Despite its promised positive effect, the use of cleaner fuel seems to have failed to improve air quality in Metro Manila, according to the Coalition of Clean Air Advocates of the Philippines (CCAAP).
The CCAAP said this is mainly because of most vehicles plying Metro Manila roads are not properly maintained.
According to the DENR, 80 percent of the air pollution in Metro Manila comes from mobile sources (motor vehicles), while only 20 percent comes from industries and other sources.
Last year, to help reduce air pollution from motor vehicles, the DENR and the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a joint resolution prescribing the use of Euro 4 fuel.
While gasoline stations in Metro Manila have complied with the joint order imposing them to sell only Euro 4-standard fuels, it appears that air pollution did not improve at all.
Mike Aragon, senior vice president for communications and public relations of CCAAP, said corrupt practices at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and accredited private emission testing centers, plus the poor implementation of the smoke-belching law, are to be blamed.
The CCAAP has been coordinating with the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and various national government agencies (NGA) for the implementation of the Clean Air Act.
“Metro Manila’s air quality remains below international standard,” Aragon said.
Aragon added that the average total suspended particulates (TSP) readings in Metro Manila’s air quality monitoring station show pollution level at varying degrees from 120 to 140 microgram per normal cubic to meter (ug/Ncm). This is way above the international standard of 90 ug/Ncm, or “safe” level.
Next month, if the plan pushes through, the NAECTF will start to impound smoke-belching vehicles or vehicles that emit too much smoke.
“The NAECTF is preparing for the intensified campaign against smoke belchers. The plan is to take them off the streets of Metro Manila,” Aragon said.
Republic Act 8749, or the Clean Air Act, mandates that no motor vehicle in the country can be registered by the LTO unless they undergo and pass the mandatory motor-vehicle emission test.
“Due to the corrupt practice of no show or nonappearance motor- vehicle emission-testing at the private emission, testing centers and public LTO emission-testing centers, deadly smoke-belching motor vehicles continue to ply Metro Manila’s roads,” he said.
Worse, Aragon added, roadside antismoke-belching operations (Asbo), which is supposed to ensure that there will be no more smoke belchers allowed in the streets of Metro Manila, failed to do what they are supposed to do, again because of corruption, Aragon said.
Recently, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) came up with an Department Order (DO 2016-017 that will take effect on October 1, which reverts back to the DOTr the power of the LTO to authorize and monitor the motor- vehicle emission-testing centers in the country.
Hopefully, Aragon said this will address the problem at the level of the motor-vehicle registration. The next step, he said, is to start enforcing the antismoke- belching law.
According to the CCAAP, air pollution is a major crime against the environment and people.
“Air pollution kills. It causes deadly respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and contributes to global warming that leads to climate change. The Philippines belongs to the top most vulnerable list of countries in the planet that is gravely affected by climate change,” Aragon said.
1 comment
If they implement this strictly, there won’t be any jeepneys and buses left in the roads.