QUEZON CITY, Philippines (02 September 2022) — Ahead of the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, Greenpeace called on the Philippine government to shore up the country’s monitoring systems for air quality, as its latest report reveals inadequacies in data on air pollution and its dangers to Filipinos.

The report, Different Air under One Sky: Inequity Air Research,[1] shows that disparity in access to air quality data is putting vulnerable populations at greater risk from air pollution. In the Philippines, for example, only 45 percent of people live within 25 kilometers of an air quality monitoring station, most of which are located in Metro Manila. Access to data is also difficult, as only a few stations provide public access to data, which is not updated regularly.[2]

Meanwhile, data shows that almost all Filipinos are breathing air that doesn’t meet World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, with as much as 25% of the total population exposed to annual average PM2.5 concentrations that are at least five times over the WHO guidelines,

“Based on the latest WHO air quality guidelines,[3] all Filipinos are breathing in unhealthy air,” Yu said. “Air pollution monitoring should work to protect the people from highly polluting industries and practices, but our studies have shown that monitoring stations are too few and insufficient to make an impact.” 

“Despite the clear mandate for the government to protect and promote the people’s right to clean air under the decades-old Clean Air Act, it has reneged on that mandate by allowing polluting corporations like coal plants to operate with impunity, unchecked,” said Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, Sanlakas Secretary-General and Co-Chair of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) Energy Working Group. “Our air standards are outmoded and have fallen far behind latest science. And despite the failure to regulate, the Government continues on an approving spree to more projects that would further deteriorate the dismal quality of our country’s air.”

Yu pointed out that this worsens the struggle of communities residing near or affected by fossil fuel plants, as access to accurate air quality data could help them mount complaints against destructive practices and inform urgent mitigation of these plants’ health and environmental impacts. 

“Our health, my family’s health are suffering from air pollution. Our ordeal fell on deaf ears because the company and government officials don’t fully recognize us because we don’t have sufficient data, but we still fight for our right to a clean and healthy environment,” Andrew Dolino of Limpyong Hangin Para sa Tanan (LaHat) said in Filipino. Dolino lives in a community near a coal-fired power plant in Cebu. “The government must address this problem urgently, or they are endangering their citizens.”

Greenpeace is demanding that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources expand its air quality monitoring capacity — not just by increasing the number of stations but by enabling these stations to monitor other dangerous pollutants.[4]

“Currently, our country has very few air quality monitoring stations, and those that are located near fossil fuel-fired power plants don’t monitor pollutants like methane and sulfur, which comes from fossil gas and pose risks to people’s health,” Yu said. “Having the full capacity to monitor air quality means being able to mount a strong case against the fossil fuel industry — particularly coal and fossil gas — and ultimately prevent them from dealing more damage to our environment and communities.”

In order to genuinely resolve the air pollution issue, Greenpeace is calling on the government to address its roots: phase out fossil fuel-based energy projects, and implement a just transition towards renewable energy. 

“Improving air quality is not only a matter of ensuring health and justice, but also of addressing the climate crisis and eliminating the common denominator – our country’s dependence on dirty energy,” Yu said.

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Note to Editors:

[1] Read the full report here: Different Air Under One Sky – The Inequity of Air Research

Relevant data:

  • Over 99% of the population of countries included in this research are breathing unhealthy air.
  • 100% of the total population of the Philippines live in areas where PM2.5 concentrations* were greater than 5 µg/m3, meaning that everyone is breathing air that doesn’t meet WHO guidelines. 
  • 25% of the total population were exposed to annual average PM2.5 concentrations that are at least five times over the WHO guideline.
  • There are a total of 57 governmental PM2.5 AQ stations with publicly accessible data in the Philippines. Overall, about 45% of the total population live more than 25 km from an AQ station.  About 25% of the population live within 5 km of an AQ station.
  • Slightly greater proportions of older adults, infants and pregnant people live in places more than 25 km from and AQ Station.

*Particulate matter is pollution in the form of small solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. PM2.5 refers to any particles that measure 2.5 μm or less in diameter, much finer than a human hair. Breathing PM2.5 can harm our health. Exposure increases the risk of premature death, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis. It is also associated with increases in hospital admissions and absences from school or work.

[2] Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Data from Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau. Data was last updated in June 2021.

[3] World Health Organization | Air Quality Guidelines

[4] Our concrete demands with regard to upgrading our air quality monitoring systems:

  • Enhance transparency and expedite the review and update of the air pollution standards under Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999
  • Allocate more funds and resources to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to increase their capacity in air quality monitoring, including enabling the department to install its own emissions monitoring devices in existing coal-fired power plants and, in the meantime, adopt a stringent process for validating the self-monitored reports of emissions rates from fossil fuel power plants.

Media Contact:

Maverick Flores, Communications Campaigner
Greenpeace Philippines | [email protected] | +63 9176211552

Karl Santos, Communications Campaigner
Greenpeace Philippines | [email protected] | +63 9999932058