CLEAN AIR ISSUES The Philippine Experience

1. CLEAN AIR ISSUESThe Philippine Experience Dr. Nereus Acosta, Congressman House of Representatives Principal Author, 1999 Philippine Clean Air Act

2. OVERVIEW • 12-year ‘gestation’ of Philippine Clean Air Act (filed in 1988 enacted 1999) – one of the most stringent clean air laws in Asia (Euro/EPA standards, complete phase-out of leaded gasoline, desulphurization of diesel, ban on direct incineration) • Underfunded (unfunded) Mandate; Environment Management Bureau no real capacity to implement law; ADB assistance (MMAQIF) • Metro Manila – 14 million people, 3.5 million vehicles (source of 75 percent of air pollution), one of the five most polluted mega-cities in the world, 200k plus two-stroke tricycles/motorcycles in secondary roads • Cultural/Political ‘hardware’’/ Widespread Poverty, Wealth Disparities/ Institutional Weaknesses hamper implementation – ‘Demo-Crazy’, traffic as metaphor

3. INFORMATION • SCIENTIFIC/ TECHNICAL DATA – STANDARDS, BENCHMARKING • BASELINE STUDIES, CASE STUDIES • SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ANALYSES (demographic trends, health implications) • ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS/COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS • MONITORING, MODELING, SIMULATION • VERIFICATION

4. Problems/Pitfalls --- Promise/ProspectsFIVE “I’s” • INFORMATION • INFRASTRUCTURE • INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS • INSTRUMENTS • IDEOLOGY Need for INTEGRATED APPROACH

5. INFRASTRUCTURE • ROAD SYSTEMS – diversion, circumferential roads around metropolis, road maintenance (‘flyover/overpass complex’) • TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, RAPID BUS TRANSIT, INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS, NMT, new technologies (minimal focus), • DECONGESTION PLANS -- TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT (MMDA limitations) • EMISSIONS TESTING, STATE-OF-THE-ART EQUIPMENT/TECHNOLOGY (only private Manila Observatory has such)

6. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS • POLICY MEASURES – LAND USE, ENERGY USE, ECOSYSTEMS MANAGEMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL POLCIES • LINKAGES, COORDINATION OF AGENCIES: ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, TRADE-INDUSTRY, TRANSPORTATION-COMMUNICATION – HEALTH, EDUCATION (schools, academe) • PRIVATE-PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS (NGO, SECTORAL COORDINATION – ‘Bantay Usok’ – anti-smoke-belching run by NGO-media groups) • CAPABILITY/CAPACITY-BUILDING, FUNDING • ENFORCEMENT ISSUES, OVERSIGHT FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESS – ‘FEASIBILITY’

7. INSTRUMENTS • MARKET-BASED INTRUMENTALITIES – PRICING/TAXING, INCENTIVIZATION • COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS/ COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS • INTERVENTIONS – CONGESTION-PRICING (?), REGULATORY-ECONOMIC TOOLS (e.g., ban on second-hand vehicle/buses importation, two-stroke engines phasing-out) • ´ECONOMICS OF ENVIRONMENTALISM´ poverty, equity vis-a-vis efficiency/growth equations (mass protests of tricycle/bus owners)

8. IDEOLOGY • ‘POLITICAL WILL’ – CONTINUITY QUESTION (administration to administration – short-term vs to long-term) • GOVERNANCE, CORRUPTION ISSUES (‘weak state’); ‘SOCIAL TRUST’ (are implementing rules, systems trusted?; rigged testing) • COMMITMENT TO CLEAN AIR/ ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AS OFFICIAL THRUST (not mentioned in ‘State of the Nation’ addresses) • WIDER ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOR PUBLIC, MEDIA OUTREACH • COURT SYSTEMS/JUDICIAL INVOLVEMENT – CIVIL SUITS, LEGAL RECOURSES, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS (double-edged: abused? too politicized?)

9. INTEGRATED APPROACHES • SOUND ANALYSIS (context, constraints, challenges – relative impacts in different cultural, demographic, economic and political circumstances; understanding ‘sustainability’ in fuller environmental, economic and social terms) • COMPETENT LEADERSHIP • EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION, INNOVATION, ADAPTATION