Volunteers putting off the forest fires in Indonesia contained the haze from traveling to neighboring countries, including the Philippines.

The recent downpours also helped dissipate the haze that already reached here.

Leonard Samar of the local office of PAGASA stationed in Dauis confirmed that particulate maters in haze already settled on the ground because of the recent rains.

From the visibility of only seven kilometers during the days haze had been hovering Bohol and other Visayas areas, it has now improved to 12 kilometers, close to the standard visibility range of 14 kilometers.

Moreover, the wind direction had already shifted brought about by the southeast monsoon, veering away from the Philippines.

The wind direction now aborted the fear that the haze would reach the already polluted Manila area.

Dr. Nap Nazareno, a pulmonary specialist, earlier warned that the urban areas had already filled with air pollutants from factories.

In fact, the existing air pollutants from factories in Cebu had initially affected the confirmation of the presence of haze from Indonesia in the province until it reached higher than the standard tolerable level of particulate matters.

In Bohol, health officials also warned of the hazards of the unabated practice of burning dried leaves and other garbage from the households.

Nazareno also called on the public to be also concerned about the health hazards of smoking cigarettes both on the part of the smokers and the second-hand smokers.

Second-hand smokers are even more at risk of contracting heart and lung diseases.

Smoke-belching vehicles that surprisingly passed the smoke emission test that is required in the registration of vehicles is also a concern that local officials should look into.

Even without the haze, the public should remain vigilant against other air pollutants that pose threat to the respiratory tract, heart and lungs.

The haze scare had also proven that there is scarce supply of face masks in the province as not all stores have stock of it.