Residents of Makati City could finally breathe a little easier.

The Makati City government recently joined the US-based paint company, BOYSEN^®’s “One Wall, One World” initiative, which aims to turn it into the first smog-free city in the Philippines, by painting the 225-meter long wall along Lawton Avenue with its environmental-friendly KNOxOUT™ paint.

“We are hoping to promote a cleaner and healthier environment not only in Makati but also in the world,” City Administrator Marge de Vera said during the opening ceremony of the event, held Tuesday at the Makati Park and Garden.

BOYSEN^® KNOxOUT™, which is a portmanteau of knockout and nitrous oxide (NOx), contains fine titanium dioxide which serves as a catalyst for a light reaction capable of breaking down pollutants like nitrogen oxides, which is one of the primary causes of acid rain and global warming, into nitric acid and immediately neutralized by the paint’s alkaline calcium carbonate particle. The paint also converts water vapor into hydoxyl and peroxyl, both disinfecting substance.

“A typical wall coated with three layers of KNOxOUT™ could last up to three to five years and absorb nine cars’ worth of pollution per square meter of painted wall surface as long as it is exposed to enough light, moisture and air,” Eric Cuisia, a representative from BOYSEN^® said during an interview with the Manile Bulletin.

Other groups that attended the event were The Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians, and the Partnership for Clean Air.

Students from Makati University together with city hall employees volunteered to paint the wall, while artist Rowel Obemio together with Canvas, an art-based non-government organization, painted a mural on one of the walls. The mural depicts a man and a child peacefully sleeping in a forest surrounded by paper-folded birds.

The wall is considered as the longest air purifier in the Philippines while the Metropolitan Railway Train Guadalupe station, which served as the trial case for the project, is considered the biggest with its 6,200 square meter KNOxOUT™ painted surface.
- Samuel P. Medenilla, Courtesy of Manila Bulletin