Being hooked on nicotine is tough — but a nationwide ban may be a quick fix.
Tobacco control advocacy group New Vois Association of the Philippines — no, they’re not a boy band — is urging the government to implement a nationwide no-smoking policy soon.
The group pointed out that “in the Philippines, an estimated 10 people die every hour due to smoking-related diseases.”
“We are hopeful that a comprehensive nationwide smoke-free policy be adopted soon in order to provide immediate protection to the people’s health against the ills brought by smoking.” said NVAP president Emer Rojas.
A Manila Bulletin report recalls that “during the campaign period for the presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to implement a nationwide no-smoking policy. The move that would essentially be “an expansion of the Davao City ordinances versus smoking, such as prohibiting the puffing of cigarettes, tobacco, shisha (waterpipe), e-cigarettes, or similar devices in public.”
Rojas added, “The President certainly needs to look no further than the model he put in place in Davao City in prohibiting smoking as it has already been recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective smoke-free policy.”
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