If you look at the sky here in Manila, you’ll easily notice how bad air pollution is here. The air is grayish and if you’re walking along a busy street, you’ll find it hard to breathe. Added to the heavy soot in the air are the heavy gas emission of old buses and the pedestrians many of whom are smokers.
You just have to walk a few blocks and you’ll see what I mean. Even during the early morning, you cannot have your walk without having to inhale the smoke from the cigarettes of the people in the street.
Just this morning, I was walking along this street in Makati and I saw a group of women wearing business attire who were slumped on the steps of a building and smoking cigarettes. There are too many people smoking in this country. It is hard to find a public spot where you can enjoy your walk without inhaling nicotine.
I think another reason why air pollution here in Manila is so bad is because there are barely a tree here. We produce so much carbon dioxide with our burning of energy but there is nothing that can convert the pollutant into oxygen.
We need trees in Manila but where are we going to place the trees? Everything’s road, buildings, malls, slum areas, residential areas, golf courses here.
There must be a designated part here in Manila where nothing will be built but will only be reserved for the planting of trees. I think this is the reason why the quality of air in Japan is not yet polluted even if there are also a lot of vehicles there. They have managed not to touch their forest.
Trees are necessities in Manila. We can plant trees in our backyards and our business establishments. Here in our vicinity, a commercial area has planted trees in the middle of malls. I go there when I want to have a respite from the dirty air. Air is better there.
I wonder how we can have more trees in Manila?