Publications·October 31, 2002
1 Backdrop & purpose
This third volume in the World Bank’s Environment Monitor series zooms in on urban air-quality trends in the Philippines during the 1990s–early 2000s, synthesising dispersed government and academic data into a snapshot that policy-makers and the public can digest quickly. Rapid motorisation, sprawling industry and ubiquitous waste-burning have driven pollutant loads—especially particulate matter—well above national and WHO guidelines. The report therefore:
catalogues sources (mobile, stationary and area) and estimates their relative burdens;
tracks ambient concentrations of eight priority pollutants (PM, NOₓ, SO₂, CO, O₃, lead, GHGs, ODS);
quantifies health and economic damages; and
reviews institutional responses, culminating in the 1999 Clean Air Act (CAA) and an ADB-financed Metro Manila Air-Quality Improvement Programme.
2 Where the pollution comes from
Source category 2001 Metro-Manila share (illustrative) Drivers highlighted
Mobile (transport) ~58 % of NOₓ and 99 % of CO; ≈31 % of PM₁₀ 3.9 million vehicles nationwide; two-stroke motorcycles (75 % of fleet) and high-mileage diesel jeepneys, buses and trucks dominate excess emissions
Stationary industry & power 37 % of PM₁₀; >90 % of SO₂ pre-2000 Oil- and coal-fired plants, cement kilns, refineries; closure of three Metro-Manila oil plants cut SO₂ sharply
Area sources (road/construction dust, garbage & crop burning, open cooking) ~40 % of PM₁₀ (1990 baseline, still under-quantified) Open burning persists; re-entrained dust from unpaved roads and construction sites overlooked in inventories
Transport’s primacy is underscored by registered vehicles tripling since 1983, with utility vehicles and motorcycles out-numbering private cars
.
3 What the monitors show
Total suspended particulates (TSP) still breach the 24-h standard (230 µg m⁻³) on ~50 % of sampled days in Metro Manila, despite a downward trend since 1995
.
Fine particles dominate: pilot monitoring (2002) found PM₂․₅ = 55-60 % of PM₁₀ across residential, traffic and commercial sites
.
Regional data reveal persistent exceedances in Cebu, Davao and especially Baguio, where TSP runs 2-3 × the annual limit
.
SO₂ has fallen after urban oil-fired plants shut down, but NOₓ and O₃ are rising and often exceed hourly WHO values
.
Lead has effectively vanished following the January 2001 national ban on leaded petrol, allowing catalytic-converter strategies to proceed
.
Underlying all trends is a patchy, QA/QC-weak monitoring network—only 12 reference stations in Metro Manila and sparse coverage elsewhere—hampering evidence-based policy.
4 Human and economic toll
Using international exposure–response functions, the report estimates that in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and Baguio alone (28 % of the urban population):
> 2 000 premature deaths/yr (valued ≈ US$140 million);
~ 9 000 chronic bronchitis cases/yr (≈ US$120 million);
≈ 51 million respiratory symptom-days/yr (≈ US$170 million).
Total annual health costs = US$430 million, roughly 0.6 % of national GDP; extrapolating to all cities pushes the burden above US$1.5 billion
. Jeepney drivers, child street-vendors and schoolchildren show the highest measured exposures.
5 Policy progress & gaps
Successes so far
Clean Air Act (1999)—introduces market instruments, devolves certain powers to LGUs and mandates an airshed approach
.
Leaded petrol phase-out (Jan 2001) and 1 500 ppm-to-500 ppm diesel-sulphur roadmap.
Closure/relocation of central-city oil power plants—SO₂ drop.
Active civil-society campaigns and private-sector schemes (e.g., San Miguel’s “pollution-free vehicle” gate policy)
.
Seven headline challenges distilled by the Monitor are:
Cut particulate pollution in Metro Manila—better maintenance of high-use diesels, cleaner fuels, shift to four-stroke motorcycles;
Mandate catalytic converters on gasoline vehicles;
Upgrade public transport & traffic management (priority lanes, LRT expansion);
Fully implement the CAA with adequate budgets, skills and political will;
Tighten enforcement, coupling incentives with meaningful penalties;
Build an integrated data-to-decision system (robust monitoring + analysis);
Move from awareness to active public participation in clean-air action.
The Monitor pegs a minimum PhP 25 billion (≈ US$500 million) price tag for CAA implementation 2000-10, but emphasises that benefits—health, productivity, tourism, investment—“far exceed” costs
.
6 Priority measures unpacked
Inspection & maintenance (I/M) for commercial diesels—DOTC plans 28→100 lanes capable of checking 6.7 million vehicles by 2007; focus on jeepneys, buses and trucks to maximise PM cuts
.
Fuel-quality reform—accelerate shift to 500 ppm (and ultimately 50 ppm) diesel sulphur; tighten benzene, aromatics and olefin specs for gasoline
.
Phase-in four-stroke (or LPG/CNG) tricycles—Philippines trails regional peers in market share; equal prices mean standards, age limits and financing can tip demand
.
Mandate catalytic converters—at ≈ US$200/unit, cost-effective once lead is gone, with large CO/HC/NOₓ benefits
.
Solid-waste and open-burn control—expand composting, recycling and sanitary landfills to tackle overlooked area-source PM
.
Data infrastructure—continuous automatic PM₂․₅/NO₂/SO₂/O₃, updated emissions inventory, health-exposure studies and transparent public portals.
7 Institutional landscape
DENR/EMB leads regulation but has only ≈ 600 staff nationwide; Metro Manila EMB has 113 staff for all environmental tasks
.
LGUs hold key CAA enforcement powers (e.g., tricycle franchising) yet often lack capacity; a handful (Makati, San Fernando, La Union) pilot two-stroke-phase-out and financing schemes
.
MMDA coordinates anti-smoke-belching drives across 17 Metro LGUs; 2002 air-quality budget = PhP 38 million (just 2.3 % of MMDA’s total)
.
Civil-society coalitions (Partnership for Clean Air, Concerned Citizens Against Pollution) supply pressure, monitoring aid and public-awareness energy.
8 Keywords
Particulate matter (PM₁₀/PM₂․₅); Clean Air Act 1999; Metro Manila airshed; diesel jeepneys; two-stroke motorcycles; health-cost valuation; air-quality monitoring; catalytic converters; seven challenges; inspection & maintenance.
Air pollution is a serious problem for the Philippines, and is the focus of this environmental monitor. The report looks at the air quality by examining, pollutants, the sources of pollution including transport, resuspension and construction, waste burning, indoor air pollution, and industry and power; and responses to the problems observed. Particulates, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, greenhouse gasses, and ozone depleting substances are each examined. Seven challenges which need to be addressed are: reducing particulate matter in Metro Manila through improved maintenance for high use commercial vehicles, improved fuel quality, and shifting to four-stroke motorcycles; requiring catalytic converters in gasoline vehicles; improving public transport and traffic management; implementation of the Clean Air Act with adequate institutional capacity, funding, and political commitment; strengthening enforcement with incentives and penalties; improving air quality management by integrating monitoring and analytical capacity with decision making; and moving from public awareness to participation.