BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) disclosed that the air quality in the five Benguet towns surrounding the city were able to register good air quality based on the results of the ambient air quality monitoring conducted by the agency in strategic areas within the said municipalities.
EMB-CAR regional director Reynaldo S. Digamo said the conduct of the regular ambient air quality monitoring is pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8749, otherwise known as the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, and its implementing rules and regulations.
As of an offshoot of the mandate, the ambient monitoring and technical services section of the environmental monitoring and enforcement division of the EMB-CAR conducted 24-hour exposure ambient air quality sampling and monitoring at the established sampling stations.
The EMB-CAR official noted that results obtained from the agency’s established monitoring station at Poblacion, Itogon, Benguet showed that there was a significant improvement in the town’s air quality after recording 28 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) during the third quarter monitoring period compared to the 76 µg/m3 recorded during the second quarter monitoring period in the said area.
At the Provincial Capitol area along Km. 6, La Trinidad, Benguet, the air quality for the third quarter remains to be good after the air quality monitoring station was able to record 49 µg/m3 compared to the 72 µg/m3 registered in the area during the second quarter monitoring period.
Digano underscored the air quality in the municipal hall park along Km. 5 in La Trinidad remains good for the third quarter after the established monitoring station recorded the air quality index to be 51 µg/m3 compared to the reported 68 µg/m3 during the second quarter monitoring period conducted by the agency.
In Acop, Caponga, Tublay, Benget, the air quality remains good in the area after the agency’s air quality monitoring station recorded an improved 10 µg/m3 as compared to the registered 38 µg/m3 air quality during the second quarter monitoring period done by the agency in the strategic area in the municipality.
However, Digamo revealed that there was a significant increase in the pollutants in the air in the vicinity of the municipal hall of Tuba, Benguet after the agency’s air quality monitoring station recorded 59 µg/m3 for the third quarter monitoring period compared to the 16 µg/m3 registered during the second quarter monitoring period.
In the vicinity of the municipal hall grounds in Poblacion, Sablan, Benguet, Digamo claimed the air quality in the area remains to be good as hits operational air quality monitoring station recorded 35 µg/m3 for the third quarter monitoring period compared to the registered 48 µg/m3 during the second quarter monitoring period conducted by the agency pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations considering that it is part of the agency’s mandate to monitor the state of air quality in strategic places around the country.
By Dexter A. See
