The Iloilo City Sangguniang Panlungsod recently passed a resolution encouraging traffic enforcers to wear face masks. According to City Councilor Candice Magdalane Tupas, who sponsored the resolution, due to their working environment, traffic enforcers are vulnerable to high blood pressure and other respiratory diseases due to pollutants.
The resolution calls for both the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office and city government to encourage the use of masks, along with the city government to provide medical face masks.
According to an earlier UNTV report, Dr. Paul Evangelista of the Lung Center of the Philippines said a traffic enforcer’s exposure to road air pollution should last for only one to two hours to avoid illnesses associated with bad air quality.
“If they have no mask, within one to two hours, it can already cause damage already to the lungs,” he stated in the report. “If they are wearing protective masks, it will take days before they have inflammation in their lungs.”/WDJ