Green & Clean Philippines

by Clarence Tuvera

Eleuterio C. Galvante, Program Director for Special Vehicle Pollution Control Fund of the DOTC happily announced that the Philippines is well on its way to enjoying a cleaner, healthier air.

Galvante cited the recent favorable Environment Performance Index (EPI) rating of 71.7 points given by Yale University to the Philippines, proof that the country’s efforts to control its air pollution, including its other environment pollution issues, is finally paying off.

An EPI rating tracks a country’s performance indicator across 10 policy concerns that fall under two main categories: environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale to measure how close a country is to achieving its environmental policy goals.

In measuring our Ecosystem Vitality, for instance, the following seven policy concerns are closely monitored: (1) Climate Change, which closely monitor efforts at curbing CO2 emissions which largely contributes to greenhouse effect, (2) Agriculture, which monitors the implementation of pesticide regulation and the purity level of agricultural water, (3) Fishery, which monitors the health of marine trophic index and trawling intensity, (4) Forestry, (5) Biodiversity, which focuses on the protection of Biome and Marine Habitats, and a close monitoring and management of identified critical habitats, (6) Water, which focuses on the monitoring of its health, availability and its effects on the ecosystem, and finally (7) Air.

The proper management of these seven critical policy categories contribute to a country’s performance in its overall Environment Public Health which tracks three concerns: (1) Water, which measures sanitation level and the public’s access to clean water, (2) Air Pollution, which measures the levels of both indoor and outdoor air pollution, and (3) Environmental Burden of Disease.

An EPI point of 71.1 indicates that the Philippines is finally managing the vitality of its ecosystem to reduce factors that endangers the public’s health. It placed the country at the 50th place alongside Australia, and just behind Malaysia and Singapore among the 163 countries that were surveyed.

The fight for clean air
Director Galvante underscored the continuing efforts of government to further lower the incidence of emission generated suspended particulates (floating pollutants) in the air. These are pollutants produced from fuel fumes, or emissions from cars that use petroleum products.

"The Philippines is still on a long way to clean its environmnet but it is already moving. Climate change would be become easier to address if we keep on moving for environmnetal protection and conservation"

Via Reuter