Smoke Anyone?

I don't normally like to post photos or say something that depict the negative side of the Philippines because I am afraid that my friends who have not been here will never want to visit the country. But when my sister sent me a photo of the view of Metro Manila from her building, I was shocked to see that the air we breath is so polluted that I feel obligated to show you and perhaps together, do something about the situation.

I know that it has been a long and undying issue as to how the Filipino's should care more about the air that we inhale day after day after day.... But really, how long are we going to hide inside our air conditioned offices, bedrooms and cars. No amount of filtering can keep us safe, especially the children.

Based on a survey made by the Asthma Insights and Reality in Asia-Pacific in 2005, it was found out that in eight major urban centers in the Asia-Pacific, the Philippines has the highest incidence of work absence due to asthma with a percentage of 46.6. Such a scenario tells us a lot about the kind of air that we breathe. And if it affects adults in that severity, then it follows that the effects to children are even worse. This was a study two years ago, imagine how the numbers have gone up since then.


Who's to blame? So easy to pinpoint but the ones I hate most are the buses. Probably because it is the most visible pollution maker that I encounter. Every single day that I go to Makati, I see hundreds of buses belching out smoke every second of my 60 minute ride. That is just on EDSA. There are thousands of streets in Manila that have those damn buses filling our lungs with carbon dioxide.

I know that this problem is occurring all over the world for years and years now but I just want to show you what I personally go through in my daily life in Metro Manila. Hopefully, you can get this article to MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, so he can convince bus owners to switch to LPG. That on its own will make a tremendous change in our health and in helping Mother Earth find youth once again.