China may have won the rights to hold the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but it’s facing a bigger challenge: it has to clean up the air before the games start in about 800 days.  According to a World Bank report, China has become the second largest polluter in the world, next only to the United States.

China has pitched the 2008 Olympics as the “Green Games” to showcase the country’s efforts to combat pollution, but it looks like it’s facing an uphill battle.  Out of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world, 16 are in China, one of which is Beijing, the World Bank asserted.

Chinese authorities have admitted that 40 percent of its cities are suffering from medium to high levels of air pollution.  Compounding the problem is a looming water crisis with reports that China’s longest river, the Yangtze, is rapidly dying because of pollution, which has been described as “cancerous” by experts.

The irony of it all is that the United States—which refused to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (along with Australia), is finally beginning to realize that the problem of pollution is indeed global.  Recent reports indicated that China’s pollution is reaching American shores, particularly Seattle in Washington State.  Toxic mercury caused by coal burning to fire up outmoded power plants and exhausts from China’s 31 million vehicles may be contributing to the worsening air quality in Seattle, scientists said.  The US clearly has to rethink its position concerning the Kyoto Protocol when it’s up for deliberations again in 2012.

As a matter of fact, even Hong Kong is losing its appeal as an ideal place for expats, with many leaving because of the pollution.  According to government figures, almost 26 percent of expats from the US, Australia, UK, and Canada have left Hong Kong since 2001, citing the worsening air quality as their reason.

Last year, Hong Kong was rated as the 20th most ideal place out of 257 locations worldwide, but it has gone down to No. 32 in a recent survey.  A lot of people avoid Hong Kong like the plague, myself included.  Last February, several thousands who joined a marathon in Hong Kong complained of cramps and difficulty in breathing because of the thick smog that covered the city.  Some 22 participants were brought to the hospital and one man eventually died because of respiratory problems.  These people ran the marathon at a day when Hong Kong’s air pollution index was at 149, the highest level recorded since September last year.

Makati and Greenhills particularly along EDSA have recorded a similar index, especially during the summer months when there is hardly any wind.  Manila is also getting part of the pollution from China.  Unfortunately, people are adding to the pollution, just like the photo that was recently shown at the STAR, with creeks teeming with garbage and the water contaminated with human waste from the nearby squatter colony.

With the population sure to reach 100 million by 2014 or even earlier, the situation is going to get worse with more people contributing to the pollution in our air and water resources.  This is one of the reasons why many, including me, are vehemently opposing the proposed housing project in the La Mesa watershed because it is a major source of water for 12 million Metro Manila residents, and the risk of contaminating this important water source should definitely not be allowed.  If we don’t act decisively coupled with a strong political will, then we will soon be like China.

Likewise, people are also getting sick because of the worsening air quality in Metro Manila, described as having one of the dirtiest air sheds in the world.  Chronic lung diseases reportedly afflict some two million Filipinos, and in 10 years, Metro Manila may become uninhabitable.

The DENR and MMDA are encouraging people to use bicycles as a healthier alternative, but walking along smog-filled streets may be more dangerous to your health.  It’s like smoking 20 packs of cigarettes in one swig.  As a matter of fact, the cost of pollution is staggering.  Sharp Philippines president Mitsunobu Hattori told me that the sales of Sharp air cleaners have increased by 1,000 percent over the past one and a half years.

World Bank records show the air pollution in China is costing its economy some $25 billion a year on health expenses alone compounded by the loss of human productivity.  Chinese officials pegged the figure even higher, saying that their country’s pollution problems are costing more than $200 billion a year, or the equivalent of 10 percent of its GDP.

Another World Bank study showed that in the Philippines, health costs from air pollution alone have reached $400 million a year.  Some 65 percent of drugs purchased by the DOH were reportedly for treatment of respiratory diseases.  People who have asthma, TB and other similar respiratory ailments are really at risk here, with children being most susceptible.  What’s also unfortunate is that the cost of medicine is high, so you can just imagine how many people go through life wheezing and coughing without getting any relief because they don’t have the money to buy the medicine.  In the first place, they can’t even afford to see a doctor.

Just the other day, I had to go through a minor ear operation because of the polluted air which made my allergic rhinitis get worse.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would come to this.  That’s why every chance I get—I try to get out of Metro Manila even just for the day.  But what about other people who can’t afford to leave?  Just like in Hong Kong, people are beginning to get choked by the foul air, and several governments like Canada are discouraging citizens who have respiratory problems from going to the Philippines.

About 70 percent of air pollution is caused by toxic carbon monoxide emissions from vehicles, while the remaining 30 percent is caused by factories, the burning of garbage and various construction-related activities.

The DENR is reportedly asking the US government to help in acquiring a radar system that can go after smoke belching vehicles, but clearly, a lot more is needed for the country to clean up its air.

Environment Secretary Angie Reyes certainly has his hands full.  If he did well in DILG going after kidnappers, then he should do no less in going after polluters.  And he has to do it now, not later—before the number of people dying increases dramatically as the population increases.

Soon, Metro Manila will be like Calcutta and not far behind Hong Kong—where every morning there will be a truck picking up dead bodies in the streets—not because of hunger, but from the lack of clean air.  A commodity fast becoming hard to come by.

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