A = ASTHMA AND AIR

I took a deep breath and all was clear. What heaven….a respite I have learned to live in the moment with, knowing this would change to congestion, with me and my asthma trying to get one over each other.

This is why a conscious choice has emerged in my lifestyle of going after fresh air –escaping weekends either to the salty sea breeze or the crisp clean mountain air of a rainforest. Truly, I feel so blessed to have these options.

I recently spent a relaxed weekend with two friends who both, like me, have asthma. And how healing it was just to breathe in the sea air. My rescue inhaler was tucked away (thankfully) for a couple of days and my lungs were so clear.

But back to the city, in a mere five hours, I was coughing and wheezing again, and it was clear the ball was in asthma’s court. And for the next couple of work days, in the heart of the concrete beast, I just manage by chronic respiratory issue. I move between meetings in airconditioned rooms and the weight of hurried lives, and at home, open windows to let in air that hang thick with the sighs of exhaust. Oh, I thought, if we could but live forever in green spaces!!! No wonder we find real estate away from the city and closer to nature booming. Plus hybrid-work from anywhere green and clean is also such a possible option being taken by many nowadays.

At least every three of people I know around me suffer from asthma. I find that as of recent reports (2023–2024), Metro Manila continues to face significant air pollution challenges, primarily due to vehicle emissions, industrial activities and construction dust, with particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) levels frequently exceeding the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe limits.

Data studies from the Department of Health (DOH) has also shown how, in the past five years, rising air pollution levels in Metro Manila have been linked to an increase in asthma and respiratory ailments, particularly among children, the elderly and low-income communities living near high-traffic and industrial zones. Hospital admissions have also risen because of asthma, bronchitis, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) spiking during peak pollution periods.

The Clean Air Act is government’s effort in implementing stricter vehicle emission standards, but the enforcement has been inconsistent. And rapid urbanization continues unabated.

So what do we, individual citizens, try to do? We manage by running away to find clean air. But what of the many others who do not have this privilege? Some use purifiers and masks and limit outdoor activities. Others marry their inhalers. Others just keep away from where pollutants are at their highest: Construction sites, traffic zones and industrial areas; and yes, dusty rooms and spaces.

My dream is for more green spaces…. But this means awakened urban planners and architects, conscious industrialists to commit to shift their processes. And government committed to enforce the laws that can help our air become cleaner.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see more emerald structures — where architecture and urbanscapes merge with nature, plant and foliage. And gardens, green and verdant will allow the public to choose them rather than airconditioned malls. With more green pockets, small gardens, walls of hanging greens, we will have lungs in our cities that will help our air, beyond and despite the greed of progress that is so paramount today.

My dream is for spaces inhabited by trees, those ancient guardian who stretch their roots into earth, where oxygen and shade are healing for both our minds and bodies. But I am but one suffering from asthma. And what can I really do except attempt to manage my own little life?

As a firm believer that we each do our part in small steps towards collective change… imagine this if we all did our part to help create green spaces, no matter how small: Each of us tending a small patch of green, planting not just seeds but cooking herbs on our window sills, native trees in forgotten corners, flowers that will entice back the bees.

Imagine if we are so profoundly wanting change that our lifestyles shift and we say no to plastic and/or compost our waste so we can give back to feed the soil with more nutrients to grow more greens! Imagine if all of us each, chose non-toxic home cleaners, walked or biked instead of ride cars if distances are walkable.

Imagine if we stood behind people and groups; or stepped up to be advocates, who fight for forests and not support those who profit from smoke.

Imagine if we had the power to design and build bigger spaces for the public, that we would choose this to be green.

Clean air is not a gift now, but something we must fight for, stand for, stubbornly demand and act on. Each breath we take is our connection to life. When our spaces have air that is killing us, it is not because of Nature but Wo/Man’s doing. Wo/Man asleep. Wo/Man unconscious. And the wild profundity of it all is that as each of us wakes up to create and want our green space, we are healed just by moving towards it.