Joey Papa, president of environmental group Bangon Kalikasan Movement, is urging health and education departments to entertain issuing free gas masks for students and workers so they can be protected from air pollution. This is because respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of illnesses that lead to people being absent from school and work. He added that handkerchiefs and surgical masks won’t do anymore because they are no longer effective. “A thick layer of protection is necessary to prevent the carbon dioxide from being inhaled,” he told Inquirer.
