The Pollution Control Association of the Philippines Inc. (PCAPI) National held its first virtual general assembly last April 28,2021 via Zoom. The celebration was held in compliance with the existing government guidelines to curb down the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. The General Assembly was attended by the PCAPI Board of Trustees and its staff, DENR-EMB Director, EMB Chief of Air Quality Management Section (AQMS), DENR National Resources Development Corporation (NRDC) representatives and members (Institutional & Lifetime) of PCAPI National. The current PCAPI Secretary, Engr. Shirlyn C. Reyes, PhD., ASEAN, APEC, ACPE was the host of the virtual event.

Engr. Gretchen Fontejon-Enarle delivered her opening message in the event, delighted to welcome the guests and the delegates as this event was the very first Virtual General Assembly of the PCAPI National since the pandemic caused the cancellation of the annual face-to-face assembly of the association for the year 2020. According to Engr. Enarle, the year 2020 was a challenging year for everyone since many lives has been changed and business and industries were affected as well.

DENR-EMB Director Engr. William P. Cuñado delivered his keynote message. Engr. Cuñado gave updates on how the services of EMB cope up with the “new normal” situation of the country by adapting ICT improvements to cater the environmental needs and access of the industries with their permits, licenses, applications, etc. through features of EMB online portals. He tossed a challenge to the association in relation to the performance of the PCOs who will and have undergone the training/s to a hundred percent compliance to the environmental laws and to give its continuous support to the Bureau as well as to newly designated/appointed PCOs of the industries.

EMB Chief of Air Quality Management Section (AQMS), Engr. Jundy del Socorro, gave a brief lecture on the topic: “Impact of Covid-19 to the status of environment” which mainly focused on the status of Air Quality during the pandemic. He presented the changes with the quality of air while the nation is on community quarantine, where most of the sources of air pollution minimized and ceased its operations.

Next in the program, Mr. Carlo Sampan the Over-all Project Coordinator of PCB Management Team of NRDC briefly discussed the PCB Treatment through the Non-Com POPs Facility.  He emphasized the importance of having a facility for the treatment of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) which are hazardous organic chemicals the government subjects for phasing out. In the Philippines, the Non- Combustion Persistent Organic Pollutants Treatment Facility was situated in Mariveles, Bataan, this is where PCB are being processed through the use of sodium dichlorination.

Right after the very productive lectures of EMB-AQMS Chief on the Impact of Covid-19 to the status of Environment and the Over-all Project Coordinator of NRDC’s PCB Treatment Plans through the Non-Com POPs Facility, the participants was given the chance to raise out questions/clarifications regarding the topics.

As part of the program, the PCAPI Election Committee Chairman Adviser Elias Escueta presented the members of the committee and the Candidates for Industry Cluster Trustees for the year 2021-2022.

Later in the program, the PCAPI National President, Engr. Gretchen Fontejon-Enarle presented also President’s Report for the year 2019-2021. She provided updates on the current status of the association as to its members, recent office improvements, and adaptation to the implementation of the online training/s. She reported on the continuous improvement of the association amidst the pandemic.

The announcement of the newly elected Board of Trustees for the year 2021-2022 was one of the highlights of the General Assembly. The set of Board of Trustees was presented by the PCAPI Election Committee Chairman Adviser Elias Escueta. The PCAPI Board of Trustees for 2021-2022 are as follows:

  Engr. Raymundo Rafols Jr. – Verzatek, Inc. 

  Engr. Shirlyn Reyes – Universal Robina Corp. (URC) 

  Mr. Emigdio Lomibao IV – JGC Phils., Inc. 

  Engr. Gretchen Fontejon – Enarle – Atlantic Coatings, Inc.

  Engr. Fernando Ramos – Pepsi Cola Products Phils., Inc. (PCPPI) 

  Engr. Emmanuel Altarejos – BSI (formerly Berkman Systems, Inc.)

  Engr. Joerey Yson – Asian Alcohol Corp.  

  Mr. Jeremiah Dwight Sebastian – Di-Catalyst International Corp.

  Mr. Richard Bagot – Cagdianao Mining Corp. 

  Ms. Lyn Valdez – All Waste Services Inc.

  Engr. Norman Giovanni Guevarra– Technological Institute of the Phils., (TIP)

PCAPI VP-External Affairs Mr. Jeremiah Dwight Sebastian officially closed the program by generalizing the over-all activities in the event, giving the appreciation and acknowledgement to those who have given their time to attend and witness the association’s Virtual General Assembly.