BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-CAR) will be installing additional air quality monitoring stations in Baguio and La Trinidad by next year to further establish the benchmark in the prevailing air quality in the said areas year-round.
EMB-CAR Regional Director Reynaldo S. Digamo said one of the air quality monitoring stations will be installed within the premises of city hall while the other air quality monitoring station will be established within the compound of the Provincial Capital in La Trinidad, Benguet to help the agency and the concerned local governments formulate programs, policies and activities that will sustain the improvement of air quality in the said areas.
“We had been recording good to fair air quality in Baguio and Benguet over the past several years that is why we want to further get the appropriate information on the air quality in the said areas by installing additional air quality monitoring stations in designated areas in the city and the nearby capital town of La Trinidad,” Digamo stressed.
The EMB-CAR explained it is unfortunate that there are some instances that they are able to record unhealthy air quality in the city hall area because of the need for motor vehicles to accelerate in going up the Naguilian road area from the various road networks within the city hall compound that is why there is a need for the local government to consider the adoption of the appropriate programs, policies and activities to lessen the pollutants in the air.
According to him, the increasing number of motor vehicles plying the various routes in Baguio and La Trinidad is the primary culprit in the slight deterioration of the air quality in heavily dense communities in Baguio and La Trinidad considering the smoke being emitted by the motor vehicles, especially those that are not properly maintained.
He called on concerned local officials to start working out the implementation of the needed policies to help improve the air quality in the said places to sustain efforts by various sectors to improve the state of the environment in the areas that were previously identified to have deteriorating air quality.
Further, Digamo revealed that the agency will be working out the repair of the air quality monitoring station along Lower Session Road to guarantee a significant improvement in its performance, considering it is one of the areas in the city that recorded unhealthy air quality when the monitoring station was still working.
He claimed that aside from the total suspended particulates, the other factors that affect the prevailing air quality in a certain area include the wind speed, humidity and wind direction but what is advantageous to the city is the occurrence of rains that help in reducing the pollutants in the city’s air.
The environment official asserted the improvement in air quality in Baguio and La Trinidad will be achieved through the support of both the concerned government agencies, the local government and the public considering the enormous problems on health that will be created once the air quality in Baguio and La Trinidad will worsen because of the unabated increase in the number of motor vehicles emitting bad smoke when travelling around the various road networks in the said places.
By Dexter A. See
