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Raissa Robles

Smoke from Indonesian wildfires blanketed Manila on Tuesday, turning fires nearly 2,000km (1,242 miles) away into a public-health warning for the Philippine capital and reviving concerns over Southeast Asia’s recurring transboundary haze problem.
The haze, carried by southwesterly winds from fires in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, prompted health experts to urge people to wear N95 masks outdoors as air quality deteriorated across parts of Metro Manila.
In parts of the capital region, the air quality index reached “acutely unhealthy” levels, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources warned on Sunday, based on readings from its monitoring stations.
The warning has prompted Quezon City, part of the Philippine capital region, to suspend classes in all schools.
Gerry Bagtasa, a Japan-trained atmospheric physicist at the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology, told ABS-CBN that the haze was dangerous because it was made up of tiny particles carried by southwesterly winds.
Based on satellite images, he said the pollutants had come from intensifying wildfires in western and southern Kalimantan.

Although Kalimantan is about 1,939km from Manila, Bagtasa said two typhoons hovering east of Taiwan and south of Hong Kong, along with the current El Nino phenomenon, were intensifying the southwest monsoon Habagat occurring at this time of year.
“These [typhoons and El Nino] are pulling the Habagat and along with this, the emissions from the fires in Kalimantan,” he said.
Bagtasa expected the haze to linger until the weekend, depending on whether the wind would change direction.
Indonesia’s forest and land fires are often fuelled by a mix of dry weather, peatland conditions and land-clearing practices, with smoke from large fires capable of travelling across borders when seasonal winds shift.
The last time the Philippines was affected by Indonesian haze was in 2015, during another El Nino event, Bagtasa said.
He said, however, that the haze was not a natural disaster but was “man-made” and could potentially worsen because of typical peaks of wildfires in Indonesia between September and October.

Rontgene M. Solante, who chairs the Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Fellowship Programme at San Lazaro Hospital in Manila, urged people to use N95 masks rather than other types of face coverings.
He said even healthy adults should wear masks outdoors because fine particles could lodge in the lungs and cause breathing difficulties.
The haze has also raised questions over whether Southeast Asian governments have effective ways to mobilise cross-border help when fires in one country affect the health of residents in another.
Yohanes Sulaiman, an associate professor in international relations at Universitas Jenderal Achmad Yani in Cimahi, Indonesia, said any regional response would depend on whether Jakarta was willing to accept outside help.
“The problem is that I don’t see [Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto] is going to accept help from fellow Asean members since this is embarrassing,” he added.
Except for Japan, Indonesia’s government had previously been reluctant to accept foreign help during disasters, Sulaiman said.

In separate interviews, Philippine military officials told This Week in Asia there was no automatic mechanism within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for soldiers from one bloc member to help another in humanitarian and disaster response.
Colonel Jose Regonay Jnr, deputy chief of the Philippine Army’s Public Affairs Office, said Filipino troops were recently involved in joint military training exercises with their Indonesian counterparts, but these did not include humanitarian and disaster drills.
Indonesia would first have to request the inclusion of such exercises for that to happen, Regonay said.
This Week in Asia has asked Claire Castro, undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office, whether President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, as this year’s Asean chairman, would suggest establishing a clearer regional mechanism for the bloc’s members to help one another over the impact of transboundary haze on public health.


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A thick haze shrouds Metro Manila due to smoke from ongoing fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

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The skyline of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur is seen shrouded in haze from regional wildfires on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Firefighters spray water in an attempt to extinguish a wildfire in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Satellite data from Nasa’s Fire Information for Resource Management System showed dense concentrations of heat signatures in West Kalimantan on Sunday. Image: Handout

A farmer in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province sprays water in an attempt to extinguish wildfires that are burning his palm oil plantation on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Burnt trees lie on the ground at a peatland area affected by wildfires in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

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This Week in Asia

Health & Environment

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Asia

Southeast Asia

The haze has led Quezon City to suspend classes in schools and health experts to urge residents to wear N95 masks outdoors


The haze has led Quezon City to suspend classes in schools and health experts to urge residents to wear N95 masks outdoors.


Philippine capital’s ‘acutely unhealthy’ air due to Indonesian haze spurs warnings

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The haze has led Quezon City to suspend classes in schools and health experts to urge residents to wear N95 masks outdoors

The haze has led Quezon City to suspend classes in schools and health experts to urge residents to wear N95 masks outdoors