Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong has issued an edict providing motorists in the city a one-month-long window to ensure their vehicles are up to smoke emission guidelines before an aggressive crackdown takes place.
Starting September 22 of this year, Magalong said that the city will enact a campaign to catch and penalize motorists who continue to violate smoke emission standards, saying that motorists from outside the city will also be subject to the same checks and penalties.
Based on Ordinance No. 18-2016 or the Environment Code of the City of Baguio, violators are to be penalized with a fine of P1,000 for their first offense; P3,000 for their second offense; and P5,000 for their third offense.
According to Magalong, the edict was spurred by reports from the city monitoring systems that indicate an increasing level of carbon emissions in the central business district and along Marcos Highway, lowering air quality.
He added that the goal for the city is to be carbon neutral or to have net zero carbon by 2050, which means that the city must lower its overall carbon output and increase its capacity to sequester carbon emissions with greenbelts and renewable energy.
The City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) said motorists can volunteer to have their vehicles checked for smoke emission at their station at the Sewerage Treatment Plant in North Sanitary Camp barangay where tests are done Mondays to Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for a fee of P100.
Completing a voluntary test provides motorists a certificate of voluntary testing (CVT), which exempts them from roadside checks for two months.
