Ara Alejo, Clean Air Campaigner

In celebration of National Lung Month last August, we highlighted the persistent issue of poor air quality and air pollution as one of the major causes of respiratory illness among Filipinos. The action Life in a Bubble was set in Marikina during its car-free Sunday. It was held in close partnership with the community-run bike advocacy group Happy Pedal Project and was supported by the Marikina City Health Office.

 

350 Pilipinas had started its Clean Air campaign to urge governmental agencies to update the Philippine Air Quality Standards to align with the World Health Organization’s global standards.

Read the Press Release here

We saw three major reasons why we needed to pursue cleaner air: its effects (1) on public health; (2) on our economy; and (3) on our only planet.

Because this issue encompassed several sectors, we established mutual partnerships with governmental agencies responsible for the above-mentioned areas, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Health (DOH), in order to fast-track this amendment and push for the decarbonization of our cities. Our call for clean air was for the health of Filipinos, especially for future generations.

 

Our most recent call to action in April, the Life in a Bubble campaign, took place in two major cities of Metro Manila, one in Luneta Park in Manila City and one in Shaw Boulevard Crossing in Mandaluyong City, where the poor air quality was indisputable, mainly because of the volume of cars emitting carbon emissions.

 

The discourse on the pressing issue of clean air also resonated with other cities, as Life in a Bubble was adopted in Jakarta, Indonesia last June. We had the great opportunity to reach an international audience to talk about a decentralized energy system, the benefits of sustainable transport, and active mobility, because Indonesia was also battling poor air quality standards.

 

In Marikina City, 350 Pilipinas did it again, redirecting more public attention to the issue of air pollution and amplifying our call for stringent policies related to the outdated Clean Air Act. Two giant bubbles were deployed, with content creators Duane David and Tin Andales enclosed inside them, portraying privileged individuals jogging during car-free Sunday in Marikina.

 

Car-free Sundays were originally established to reduce the amount of carbon emissions in the air caused by the volume of vehicles in major cities, one of the industries most dependent on fossil fuels. We also called for better public transportation and stronger active transport infrastructure not only in Marikina but also at the national level.

 

Even if this initiative lasted only a few hours per week, it still had a huge impact on the environment and the people. A bonus was that the City also used the closed-off area to promote health-related activities such as zumba dancing, bicycling, walkathons, and jogging.

 

350 Pilipinas stood in solidarity with our fellow Filipinos who breathed the same poor air quality and with those who suffered and would continue to suffer from its effects. This was us, as a community, drawing a line to create local climate solutions and to decarbonize, veering away from fossil fuel dependency.

 

I would like to leave a final thought to ponder: we had the choice not to drink filthy water because we could see the dangers of what floated or was submerged inside it. On the other hand, the naked eye could not see the floating particles suspended in the air until they materialized into something much bigger such as a haze of smoke or smog.

Unless we acted on it then and there, these sneaky, microscopic particles would continue to invade our systems and weaken us from the inside out.