Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 Director John Edward Ang stated that Cebu's air quality could improve long-term by expanding open spaces, integrating greening programs, and managing waste to reduce fugitive particulates.
Metro Cebu recorded a "fair" Air Quality Index of 92 on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, recovering from earlier "very unhealthy" classifications that sparked student health concerns and class suspension confusion.
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro convened environmental, health, and education officials on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to discuss pollution health risks and establish clearer guidelines for declaring class suspensions.
CEBU’S air quality could improve over the long term through more open spaces and proper waste management, with greening programs folded into existing efforts, an official of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 said.
EMB 7 Director John Edward Ang said in a forum last week that local strategies should focus on promoting open spaces and proper waste management to help reduce airborne particles.
“Our local strategy is the promotion of open spaces, doing programs to actually move forward with proper waste management initially, so that it can also help curb the suspension of fugitive particulates here, as they are absorbed by plants,” Ang said.
Fugitive particulates are airborne particles, such as dust, that escape into the air from exposed soil, roads, construction activities and similar sources.
Long-term effects
Ang said the strategies should clean up the air over time, though results may not be immediately visible as urban areas continue to expand.
“Hopefully, the strategies that may be undertaken in this initiative would actually clean up the air in the long run,” Ang said.
“We can integrate greening programs into our initiatives on promoting a greener environment,” he added.
Latest readings
Metro Cebu recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 92 as of 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, classified as “fair,” according to EMB 7’s latest advisory. The agency’s monitoring station in Barangay Cabitoonan, Toledo City, recorded an AQI of 19, or “good,” at the same time.
The readings followed episodes earlier in October when Metro Cebu reached the “very unhealthy” classification. EMB 7 continues to monitor ambient air quality and has urged the public to check its official advisories.
EMB 7 earlier said that its advisories may be published more than an hour after the indicated monitoring time because of data processing and the time needed to prepare the information. The agency compares 24-hour air quality data with guideline values based on a 24-hour averaging period.
The remarks came amid concerns over the health effects of air pollution on students and confusion over the measurements used to decide class suspensions.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Gov. Pamela Baricuatro convened an open forum at the Capitol Social Hall with environmental, health and education officials, school representatives and parent groups to discuss pollution’s health effects and clearer guidelines for class suspensions. / CDF