Obet Badrina, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said their stations in Ninoy Aquino global Airport, Science Garden in Quezon City and port area in Manila have monitored “light haze” covering the sky of the city as of 11 a.m.
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Health authorities warned that haze is known to contain hazardous chemicals and compounds, like sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide.
Haze has been blanketing large parts of Mindanao this month.
‘The ships are sent just in case children or pregnant women must be relocated from the local health facilities, it does not mean everyone would be put into the ships, ‘ Tatang said.
A staff of the Cebu Pacific ticketing office said the airline firm has not issued any statement on when the flights in Cotabato airport would resume.
Jumawan said the haze came from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, and has spread to nearby countries like Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia due to the southwest monsoon.
Eight domestic flights have been cancelled and dozens delayed since the problem began on Oct.16, affecting thousands of passengers, he added.
These cities are gateways to regions that are home to almost 10 million people.
He added that aircraft landing in the airport operates on visual flight rules, which may no longer be applicable as haze covered landmarks up to a radius of two kilometers.
The haze was not so bad as to raise a medical alarm, but residents in affected areas are being advised to wear face masks, according to health department spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy.
“Wind analysis using the Haze Information Portal of the Asean Specialized Meteorological Center based in Singapore suggests that equatorial winds enhanced by Typhoon Lando have reached the Philippines”, Pagasa said.
While the haze in the Philippines has been mild compared to other parts of Southeast Asia, the smoke has been largely unexpected as the islands affected lie thousands of kilometres away from the fires.
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“The content [of the smoke] is not that much but even small amounts of ash could trigger an asthma attack, or cardio-pulmonary obstructive disease”, he told AFP.
