OUT of the close to 2,000 vehicles apprehended from January to August this year, more than 1,200 public utility vehicles failed the smoke belching test, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said yesterday.
Data provided by the agency showed that out of 1,668 vehicles flagged down by its traffic enforcers for the last eight months, 575 passed the roadside smoke emission test while 1,093 failed.
Last month, 324 vehicles were flagged down for emission testing, with only 121 passing, while the remaining 193 failed.
In all, 1,286 of the 1,992 vehicles subjected to the emission test failed.
MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said this showed the need to further intensify the anti-smoke belching campaign and to educate public utility vehicle operators and drivers on the need to adhere to Republic Act 8749 or the Clean Air Act.
“The MMDA operation is part of RA 8749 which prohibits vehicles from plying the roads if they emit black smoke,” Artes said, adding the agency will press on with its roadside anti-smoke belching drive this month.
“The roadside smoke emission test is being conducted through the use of an opacimeter to determine the volume of smoke emitted by a vehicle,” he said.
He urged vehicle owners and drivers to cooperate with the MMDA in the agency’s efforts to have cleaner air in the metropolis.
The Department of the Environment and Natural Resources previously said that emissions from vehicles contribute 80 percent to air pollution, especially in urbanized areas such as Metro Manila, while the remaining 20 percent comes from other sources such as factories and open burning of wastes.
According to the World Air QualityReport 2022 released by IQAir, while air quality in the Philippines slightly improved to 14.9ug/m3 from 15. 6 ug/m3 the previous year, it was still three times higher than what is considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The quality of air is measured by the annual average concentration of PM2.5, or fine particles of air.
With a PM2.5 concentration of 14.9 μg/m³, the Philippines, according to the report, was 69th on the list of most polluted countries last year from 64th in 2021.
