Innovative ways of catching vehicles that dirty Metro Manila air

Antipolo City, PHL   |   April 28, 2013

 Tricycle ascending Manila East Road near Philec;  it is spewing white smoke (oil);   its oil rings are busted?  Just one tricycle like this can wreck havoc on the air quality.  And there are plenty!

I am not member of any advocacy or cause oriented bloggers, or group or PCIJ or trained to do investigative work.  I work on intuition and hunches.  I find it difficult to stand at street corners and take pictures of offending vehicles (emitting dirty smoke).  I wonder why. 

I found out that vehicles operate differently when:  they are stationary, there is no load, not accelerating.  They start to pollute the air or show visible signs of pollutants when:

they are in motion;

they have load (passenger or cargo)

or going uphill.

It is best therefore for authorities with measuring device to:

l.  follow vehicles in motion in motorcycles or other vehicles

2.  do roadside tests near hills or mountains.

3. or do random checking at night (hmmmm that will be opportunity for kotong)  Anyway this is last resort.

 The culprits here are the AUV and the jeepneys as their engines labor going uphills near Philec, Manila East Road

 The van is the smoke belcher going up Beverly hills

   The overloaded jeepney's engine is laboring with heavy smoke going up a curve after Beverly Hills

 The jeepney and the tricycles are the squids

 What is the tricycle doing at the highway;  is its plying the national highway now allowed by law?

 The Clean Air Act here is a big joke;   it does not exist here.

I think these pollution problem exists because of poor implementation, checking and compliance.  (PDCA)

There is a half hearted effort, will to implement this strange law that may have been forced into the lungs of congressman or cabinet secretaries. 

The absence of enforcers, and this situation does not speak well of public governance.  We have good law but maybe a bureacracy that needs kaizen.  I am sorry if this site may have offended certain quarters.  Truth hurts.

Politics and election has something to do with this issue.  While this CCA affects the health of many, this is sacrificed for the short term benefit of getting votes from some 2 million TODA members.  You could lose your income and position if you offend this voter by strictly implementing the law

Diesel powered buses and jeepneys blamed by Climate Change Commissioner for MM air pollution

From Respro Bulletin Board | February 5, 2013

More than the 500,000 diesel powered jeepneys and buses were alleged to be cause of most of air pollution in the PHL.   This was according to fmr Sec of DENR and Senator  and Climate Change Commissioner. Heherson Alvarez.  Air pollution was alleged to be the cause of more than 5,000 deaths and $l.5 billion in costs.  This was contained in the speech of the government official before Sustainable Development Summit in New Delhi held last January 31 to February 2, 2012

Jeepney and bus operators, as usual will object to this statement and will not comply with CAA.

Of course, several steps have done to mitigate this:

l.   Fuel companies came out with high quality Euro compliant diesel fuel to lessen diesel emission;

2.  FROG buses are being fielded (they are hybrid buses) that lessen bus diesel emissions by 80%

3.  ADB is financing 100,000 e tricycles

4.  Makati has e jeepneys.

Several measures are still wanting like:  phasing out old jeepneys and buses or those who fail the emission tests consistently;  ban importation of junk units and engines that fail emission tests;  HONEST TO GOODNESS  LTO VEHICLE REGISTRATION EMISSION TESTS>