Archive - Smoking

Ilocanos are stereotyped as being kuripot (stingy with money). President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., an Ilocano, showed this side of him when he vetoed four bills approved by the previous Congress.

President Marcos Jr. did not heed the call of former health secretaries, heads of health agencies, and several medical groups to veto the contested vape bill.

In declaring tobacco as a health product, the Supreme Court (SC) has made “far-reaching” strides in interpreting tobacco laws and regulation, according to a former health undersecretary.

If Marcos enacts the vape bill or allows it to become law by July 24, the "absurd situation" cited in the Supreme Court decision will happen.

If President Rodrigo Duterte approves the vape bill before he leaves Malacanang on June 30, the Department of Health (DOH) says it will “result in an absurd situation” wherein similar products that cause harm and danger are regulated differently.

RA 11467 took full effect on May 25, after an 18-month transition period for manufacturers, distributors, importers, and sellers of vapor products to comply with its implementing rules and regulations.

More than four months have passed since Congress ratified in haste the proposed "Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act" or the vape bill, but the measure's final copy has yet to reach Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte to either sign or veto it, or to let it lapse into law after 30 days from submission.

Local government units are regulating the sale and use of e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products, but some have liberal rules that allow persons as young as 18 years old to buy the products.

In the final year of the Duterte administration, Congress approved a bill that defies the chief executive’s anti-tobacco smoking and anti-vaping position.

Several provisions in the proposed Vaporized Nicotine and Non-nicotine Products Regulation Act or the vape bill, ratified by Congress on Jan. 26, have been contested by medical experts and health advocates, questioning the need for a new regulation on electronic nicotine and non-nicotine devices (ENDS/ENNDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs).

Timeline of events before the passage of the new vape regulation.

The proposed Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Production Regulation Act removes the two-flavor limit and allows online selling and advertising of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and heated tobacco products (HTPs), prompting health advocates to say that these provisions would entice younger people to try these and get them hooked on what can become a lifetime addiction.

Disregarding the government’s tobacco control program, Congress has ratified a bill that allows younger people to buy and use electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and heated tobacco products (HTPs).

Aware of the health risks of cigarette smoking, the tobacco industry has designed over the years “less harmful” alternatives for smokers: low and tar nicotine devices, filtered cigarettes, smokeless tobacco.

Nearly 17 years after the Philippines became a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), efforts to comply with some of the remaining major commitments are met with even more intensified resistance from the legislature.

In the middle of a deadly health crisis, the tobacco industry scored a win in the country, sticking to a tried and tested playbook to protect its interests.

Iti panagdardaras nga maipasa ti vaping bill,  bumaliktad ti 18th Congress nga awan nga pulos panangdayaw  na ti tradisyon ti lehislatura wenno kortesiya iti agmaymaysa nga kanayon nga kumonkontra nga kaduada iti Kongreso. “ Traditionally, mabalinmi  iti agsaludsod iti sponsor no madama ti report iti bicam…Ti bicameral report ket nabasa kalpasan ti alas nueve idi

Sa klaro kaayong tinguha nga mapaspasan ang pagpasar sa vaping bills, ang 18th Congress nibaliktad sa iyang legislative nga tradisyon o pagtahod sa ilang bugtong kauban nga kanunay nagsupak.

Sa pagmamadaling ipasá ang panukala sa vape, binaliktad ng ika-18 Kongreso ang sarili nito nang walang paggalang sa lehislatibong tradisyon o sa nag-iisang kasamahang mariing tumututol.

In an apparent rush to pass the vaping bill, the 18th Congress reversed itself without regard for legislative tradition or courtesy to a lone consistently dissenting colleague.

The truth is, the bicameral report provides less strict policies and a step back on existing regulations.

One product’s availability online that many find worrisome is tobacco.

Why did FDA director-general Eric Domingo quit?

Why did Domingo resign? Watch the full report here.

They debunked reported claims of four physicians that the measure could become part of Duterte’s “lasting legacy” if enacted and that it would give 16 million Filipino smokers a “less harmful” option to quit smoking.

Mga vape products nga gipamaligya sa merkado malimbungon tungod sa ilang porma, matod ni Dr. Rizalina Gonzalez, usa ka pediatrician ug chair sa Philippine Pediatric Society Tobacco Control Advocacy Group (PPS-TCAG), sa usa ka interbyu sa VERA Files.

Ti DOH, FDA, sumagmamano nga professional organizations ken health experts, youth groups ken tobacco control advocates ket agtalek da nga ni Presidente Duterte ket saan na nga baliwan ti anti-smoking ken anti-vaping position na ket i-veto na ti proposed nga linteg nga kontra iti policy nga insaad na idi 2019.

Duterte, who expressed his anti-vaping stance strongly in 2019, has the option to sign it into law, allow it to lapse into law after 30 days, or veto the entire or parts of the proposed law.

The bill awaits the approval or veto of the President. This will be a test of the President’s record of supporting or defending tobacco-control and health measures.

The pandemic left small-scale farmers like her hanging by a thread to secure adequate funds for their farms, sustain the country’s agricultural production, and deal with financial shocks that affected their livelihood. Two of her fellow farmers contracted COVID-19 last year.