CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) -- The city of Calamba in Laguna was recognized as the least polluted city in the Philippines and the sixth cleanest city in the entire Southeast Asian region, in terms of air quality based on the 2023 IQAir World Air Quality Report.
The report provided a review of PM2.5 air quality from 7,812 cities worldwide, and 357 regional cities in Southeast Asia. Regarded as the most impactful of all air pollutants due to its small size, it can penetrate deep into the respiratory system causing harmful effects to the human body.
According to the study, Calamba ranked sixth in Southeast Asia and the cleanest in the country, with an 8.2 μg/m3 average of PM2.5. Ranked ninth on the list is Carmona, Cavite, with 8.9 μg/m3, while Balanga, Bataan ranked 11th with 9.2 μg/m3.
To live through the distinction, Calamba City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) is set to strengthen the city’s ordinances against the usage of single-use plastics to maintain a cleaner and sustainable environment.
In an interview with the Philippine Information Agency Usapang PIA radio program, Ronn Martin Reyes, the supervising environmental management specialist of CENRO Calamba emphasized that the local government plans to review and revise the current ordinances to dissuade residents from using plastic.
“We actually have regulations about the use of styrofoam and plastic bags, which are covered under the ordinance 10-481. We will be focusing on reviewing and strengthening these laws by campaigning to utilize alternatives,” Reyes stated.
This initiative is integral to the new 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan of Calamba following the existing policies set by the national government.
He explained: “We will be revising it. The first thing we need to do is the Waste Analysis and Characterization. So, we have to study and analyze the contents of the waste from households and establishments. We need to determine the percentage of biodegradables, recyclables, residuals, and hazardous waste. We also want to include innovative technologies to improve our Solid Waste Management Plan.”
Apart from this action, Reyes said that the city government’s initiatives, projects, and ordinances are environment-centric under the leadership of Mayor Roseller Rizal and the support of Calamba CENRO.
This includes the establishment of Task Force KKK or the Kalikasan at Kalinisan para sa Kaligtasan, tasked with cleaning operations throughout the city, and the enactment of a city ordinance prohibiting the burning of garbage that may cause air pollution.
Calamba has received the distinction of being the cleanest city in Southeast Asia and in the country based on the 2018 IQAir World Air Quality Report, where the city then recorded an average of 9.2 μg/m3. (CO,CH/PIA-Laguna)
Usapang PIA is a weekly radio program by the Philippine Information Agency Laguna, streaming live every Friday, 11:00am-11:30am on DZJV 1458 kHz Radyo Calabarzon and Philippine Information Agency CALABARZON and PIA Laguna Facebook pages.
