Cebu mayors urged: Convene air shed board

An environment lawyer is asking Metro Cebu mayors to convene the air shed board to already address pollution problems.

Lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos said not a single Local Government Unit (LGU) has an equipment that would measure air quality in their respective localities.

Ramos said it would only cost about P2 million to purchase the needed equipment.

“We demand that the Metro Cebu Air Shed Board will be constituted.  I hope that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will take the initiative to convene the board,” she said.

Ramos said that the air shed board is like a “sleeping giant.”

It has been in existence for a long time but have not formulated plans to address Metro Cebu’s pollution problems.

“What we need is an integrated, sustainable plan to address pollution problems,” said Ramos.

Mayor Rama said in an earlier interview that he was prepared to already address air pollution problems in Cebu City since one of the thrusts of his administration is environmental protection.

Rama has designated councilors Nida Cabrera, chairperson of the council’s environment committee, and Eduardo Rama, chairman of the public services committee, to initiate moves to help the city comply with provisions of the Clean Air Act.

He also told the city’s environmental consultant, former councilor Nestor Archival, to help achieve this goal.

Lawyer Ramos earlier said that Councilor Alvin Dizon promised her that he would lobby for the inclusion in the  2012 budget of an appropriation for the purchase of an air-quality monitor.

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said church doctrines focusing on the environment were needed to remind the community to take care of the environment.

“There are many times that the encyclical letters of the Holy Father focus on the concerns of the human beings. Perhaps it’s about time for a more elaborate pastoral letter should be written and to be focused on the environment,” Palma said after his Mass last Thursday at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

Palma, who is set to become the chairman of the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines,  said the Philippine Bishops wrote a pastoral letter in 1999 titled “What’s Happening with Our Beautiful Land,” which could become a landmark for the church doctrine to advocate environment preservation. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters with a report from Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya