Manila, Philippines— Based on the latest monitoring of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), fireworks and firecracker induced air pollution has remarkably dropped low during the welcoming of 2018, particularly in Metro Manila.  

​

Senior Environmental Management Specialist Jerry Capulong of the air quality management Section of EMB-DENR said that this record breaking pollution level was the lowest level to be recorded by their monitoring stations in Metro Manila for the past two years.

​

With Paranaque City having 83 percent lower than their previous record, Pasig City with 46 percent, Navotas City with 84 percent and Taft Avenue with 59 percent, Capulong said that pollution levels were relatively lower in midnights of 2017-2018 than in 2016-2017.

​

According to Capulong, the Executive Order 28 (EO 28) is of great help in enforcing the use of firecrackers which is known to be detrimental to the environment and to people’s health, most especially those who suffer from respiratory problems.

​

 It was only June 20 last year when President Rodrigo Duterte signed the EO 28 which restricts the usage of firecrackers into a “community fireworks display” that needs to be duly conducted under the supervision of trained person licensed by the Philippine National Police (PNP).

​

Alongside the PNP, concerned government agencies such as Department of Health (DOH), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) were also directed to make public the rules and regulations regarding the implementation of EO 28 and to conduct information campaigns on the threats that firecrackers impose.