FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
Second Regular Session
Introduced by Senator Manny Villar
RESOLUTION
URGING THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
RESOURCES AND OTHER APPROPRIATE SENATE COMMITTEES TO
CONDUCT AN INQUIRY IN AID OF LEGISLATION INTO THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PHILIPPINE CLEAN AIR ACT OF 1999 WITH
THE END-IN-VIEW OF ASSESSING ITS
IMPACT ON THE COUNTRY’S WORSENING AIR POLLUTION PROBLEM
WHEREAS, the 1987 Constitution mandates as a fundamental principle of
the State to pursue a framework of sustainable economic growth balanced with
the protection and preservation of our environment;
WHEREAS, efforts of the government to effect the policy on
environmental protection was perceptibly defeated due to the requirements of a
developing economy, the unprecedented increase in human and vehicle
populations and thriving industrial activities that brought the country’s urban
centers on the threshold of major environmental crisis in the form of pollution;
WHEREAS, cognizant of the growing severity of and to arrest the
worsening problem on air pollution, Congress enacted several environmental
protection related laws, the most comprehensive of which is Republic Act No.
8749 otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999;
WHEREAS, R.A. 8749 is the country’s long-term integrated approach to
air quality management and pollution control which among others, led to the total
phase out of leaded gasoline and the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions
generated from power plants in Metro Manila;
WHEREAS, despite these positive steps and almost ten (IO) years after
its passage, air quality remains poor and the country is still languishing over its
effects particularly to people’s health and the economy in general, rooted from
poor political commitment to enforce the law, weak institutional capacity and
inadequate funding;
WHEREAS, in a 2001 study conducted by the World Bank, principal
sources of air pollutants are generated by emissions from (i) mobile sources
(transport vehicles); (ii) stationary sources (factories and power plants) and; (iii)
area sources (refuse, forest and agricultural burning, road dust and open cooking
fires using fossil fuels);
WHEREAS, these pollutants are manifested in the form of particulates,
(total suspended particulates, PMIO and PM2.5); oxides of nitrogen and sulfur;
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and; ozone, where particulates, which are
emitted from mobile and stationary sources are most dominant and continue to
expand rapidly;
WHEREAS, an estimate of more than 100,000 tons of air pollutants
generated by these sources are emitted annually in Metro Manila alone which is
well above those that commonly affect human health;
WHEREAS, based on the 2007 National Emissions Inventory, nationwide
pollution is attributed largely to mobile sources which accounts for 65 percent,
stationary sources for 21 percent and 14 percent for area sources with carbon
monoxide emissions from motor vehicles account for 50 percent of all major air
pollutants;
WHEREAS, in a 2001 study conducted by the World Bank and the
Department of Health (DOH), over 2,000 cases of excess deaths, 9,200 cases of
chronic bronchitis and about 51 million cases of respiratory symptom days in
Metro Manila and other key cities are reported to have been inflicted by exposure
to air pollutants;
WHEREAS, resultant deaths reportedly translate to an estimated PhPl4
billion loss to the Philippine economy in terms of lost wages, medical treatment
expenses and premature loss of life or to put it more simply, each Filipino spends
about PhP2,OOO per year on health expenses caused by air pollution;
WHEREAS, the concentration of air pollutants has already reached critical
levels and If left unmitigated, the detrimental effects of air pollution will
significantly erode the gains of economic and social development.
WHEREAS, R.A. 8749 is equipped with several mechanisms that will
effectively address the problem on air pollution not only in the metropolis and
other key cities but also to areas whose economy and way of life have already
been affected;
WHEREAS, among the more important provisions of the law which are
already under various stages of implementation are: (i) the establishment of a
National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) Guideline Values; (ii) submission of an
Annual Air Quality Status Report (as compiled by the Environmental
Management Bureau of the DENR from the data received from the airsheds);
and (iii) establishment of airsheds which shall serve as bases for air quality
analysis;
WHEREAS, according to the 2003-2004 air quality status report of the
EMB, Metro Manila and other major cities and urban centers have far exceeded
the NAAQ Guideline Values set for TSP emissions;
WHEREAS, it is unfortunate that the latest air quality status report
published by the EMB was only for the period 2003-2004 and with a backlog of 4
years, we can only surmise visibly or with the aid of scientific calculations,
whether or not our air quality has improved, further declined or at a constant
state;
WHEREAS, the law also provides for the establishment of an Air Quality
Management Fund (AQMF) to be administered by the EMB and whose funds
shall be sourced from fees and emission charges, fines and penalties and other
fees relative to the implementation of RA 8749;;
WHEREAS, during the 05 August 2008 meeting of the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee on the Clean Air Act, it was reported that
collections from vehicle licensing fees and smoke belching fines and penalties
which should have been allocated to the DENR-EMB's AQMF account as
mandated by law, has totalled to PhPl97 million but is yet to be released by the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM);
WHEREAS, it is not yet clear whether collections from fineslpenalties
involving violations of R.A. 8749 as reported by the Land Transportation Office
(LTO) for the period January-December 2007, which already reached over
PhP23 million is already included in the PhP197 million unallocated funds;
WHEREAS, the EMB is only working under its regular budget to
implement the Clean Air Act and the supposed PhP750 million fund appropriation
for its implementation has never been released since its effectivity;
WHEREAS, based on the World Bank study, preliminary estimates for
implementing even just parts of R.A. 8749 indicated that the government will
need to spend at least PhP25 billion for the first 10 years from its effectivity in
2000 until 2010;
WHEREAS, it is imperative that the PhP750 million budget appropriation
including those funds coming from fees and penalties that should have been
allocated to the EMB's AQMF account as mandated by law, must be immediately
released so as to effectively implement R.A. 8479;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED
to urge the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and other
appropriate Senate Committees to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation if
indeed the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 particularly its implementing rules
and regulations has been properly and effectively implemented to counter the
country's worsening air pollution problem.
Adopted.
1
MANNY ILLAR