TANDAGAN, RUTH A.

PUBLIC SMOKING BAN IN THE PHILIPPINES

Buying cigarettes is like buying death sticks which slowly kills you by allowing
chronic diseases to consume your body. According to Dorling, et al. (2000), one
cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes. Smoking doesn't only affect the smoker but also
the people around them inhaling the smoke from the same cigarette. This is called
secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke from the burning
end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers. Secondhand smoke also
doesn't just impact a person in the future. It can cause problems right now, like affecting
someone's sports performance or ability to be physically active. It's been scientifically
proven that secondhand smoke is dangerous (Dowshen, 2009 cited in Bangaoet, Claire,
Lee, & Sibug, 2010). Since lots of people are affected by the secondhand smoke,
banning public smoking should be strictly implemented.

Cigarettes contains harmful chemicals that is more prone to people who are
inhaling it (non-smokers). It causes severe diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Lung
Disease (COLD), Cardiac and Vascular disease and cancer which can eventually lead
to death. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including many
carcinogens (substances known to cause cancer). Cigarette smoke contains carbon
monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas that reduced the oxygen-carrying ability of red blood
cells. Other chemicals found in cigarette smoke include hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen
oxides, benzene and ammonia. The smoke also contains tiny solid particles called tar.
The particles contain chemical compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
which are carcinogens that also damage blood vessels (Glantz, 2010).

As soon as the smoke from a cigarette and escapes into the air, people who are
non-smokers will eventually breath in these fumes and are already engaged in passive
smoking. A mainstream smoke is drawn from the smokers’ mouth, while side stream
smokes is from the burning end of a cigarette. Mainstream smoke is partially filtered
before it reaches the room air, while side stream smoke passes unfiltered into the air
(Glantz, 2010). Smoke from smoldering tobacco products is especially unhealthful
because it does not pass through a cigarette filter or the smokers’ lungs thus often hold
more toxic chemicals than exhaled smoke.

According to McCay (2005), the children who are exposed to this secondhand
smoke seem to get more diseases once their bodies are still in the process of developing
yet they become vulnerable to this smoke. Most of the children who are exposed to
secondhand smoke have asthma, condition where there is a sudden swelling that could
block the air passages to the lungs. Some of the illnesses caused by the secondhand
smoke are pneumonia, coughs, bronchial and ear infections. Scientists think that smoking
causes about one-third of all cases of cancers, including most lung cancers (Clark, 2010).
Reports say that there are about 40,000 people who die in a year because of cancer
and heart disease due to breathing in other people's smoke. The World Health
Organization supported by the Philippine Data Fact Sheet on cigarette smoking released
on July, 2012 reported that at least 250 Filipinos die every day or approximately 90, 000
every year due to smoking-related diseases such as heart failure, stroke, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, and peripheral vascular disease and various cancers
(World Health Organization, 2013). This account for 87, 600 deaths due to smoking-related
diseases in the country every year while the Global Youth Tobacco survey in 2007
estimated that 17 % or 4 million Filipino youths ages 13-15 years old are already smoking.
Of these early starters, 2.8 million are male and 1.2 million are female (Acierto, L. & Garcia,
R., 2014). With these, there has been a clamor to have smoking in public reduced or even
banned to some extent due to the scientifically proven adverse effects to people’s
health.

The Tobacco regulation Act of 2003 coded as R.A. 9211 was ratified by congress.
This Act aims to provide the Filipino people a better and healthier environment, to
promote good health to be able to produce a strong working force, and to keep the
Filipino youth from smoking by regulating the use, sale, and advertisements of tobacco
products. Unfortunately, the policy did not quite show the ideal results during the
succeeding years after it was implemented. In fact, the government seemed to have
started taking actions just a few months ago, and is now a generation behind the anti-
smoking policies that have already been in effect in other countries.

Moreover, the Clean Air Act of 1999 or Republic Act 8749 preceding the Tobacco
Regulation Act of 2003 states that it is illegal to smoke inside public buildings or any
enclosed public place, vehicles, and in any enclosed area outside of one's private
residence, private place of work or any duly designated smoking area in its Section 4.
The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which succeeded and repealed RA 8749 adopted
all its provisions but added the prohibition on smoking in enclosed public areas and
requires establishments to designate a smoking area (Acierto & Garcia, 2014).

Recently, in 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 26—the
nationwide smoking ban—that prohibits smoking in all public places in the Philippines.
These no smoking locations include schools, hospitals, clinics, government offices, food
preparation areas, elevators, jeepneys, buses, and more. The EO also bans the sale,
distribution, and purchase of cigarettes to and from minors. More importantly, it also
covers vape (CNN, 2020). According to Zoleta (2020), it is considered as one of the
strictest anti-smoking laws in Southeast Asia. This nationwide smoking ban obviously
means a lot us. It doesn’t only save lives but also the environment.

As mentioned, cigarette smoke contains contaminants that contribute to air

pollution and climate change. Cigarette butts and packs also harm the environment,
being among the most common types of waste worldwide. According to The Tobacco
Atlas, the Philippines accumulates more than 37 million kilograms of cigarette butts and
packs every year. Such wastes end up clogging and contaminating water system and
harming plants and aquatic animals. Apparently, when Filipinos obey the nationwide
smoking ban, air pollution and cigarette wastes will be reduced.

Despite a national law passed and several local government ordinances that
have promulgated smoke-free workplaces, schools, government offices, and healthcare
facilities, findings by Baquilod, et al. (2016) show that a large proportion of adults were
exposed to secondhand smoke at work and in public places. The casualties for heart
and lung diseases as well as the casualties from cancer will continue to gradually
increase if the current smoking situation is not changed. Smoking is a personal choice
and people can choose to smoke but others should not be subjected to the health risks
that come from inhaling second hand smoke. By strictly implementing the ban in public
smoking, the government promotes a healthier lifestyle for everybody and it protects
every citizen from many diseases and health risks such as cancer.

REFERENCES:

Abalos, R., Amando, S., Boquiren, D., Cabuhat, J., Carino, M., Farnican, C., ... Pis-ew, J.
(2009). The implementation of the comprehensive anti-smoking ordinance of
Baguio City to selected respondents (Thesis), University of the Cordilleras,
Philippines.

Acierto, L., & Garcia, R. (2014). Implementation of ordinance number 08 series of 2008
(Undergraduate thesis), University of the Cordilleras, Philippines.

Bangaoet, R., Claire, S., Lee, H.K., & Sibug, J.B. (2010). A survey on level of awareness on
the health cost, social cost and private cost of smoking (Undergraduate thesis),
University of the Cordilleras, Philippines.

Baquilod, M. M., Segarra, A. B., Barcenas, G., Mercado, S. P., Rarick, J., Palipudi, K. M.,
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https://doi.org/10.1177/1757975913501530

Clark, C. (2010). Cancer. The world book encyclopedia (2010 ed., Vol. 3, p. 171).
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CNN Philippines Staff. (Feb 28, 2020). Nationwide smoking ban now covers vape.
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vaping-ban-philippines-2020.html
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Glantz, S. (2010). Why smoking is dangerous. The world book encyclopedia (2010 ed.,
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McCay, W. (2005). The truth about smoking. New York NY: Book Builders LLC

Roxas, P. (2017, July 23). Nationwide smoking ban enforced, Malacañang urges public
support. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved from
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/916335/nationwide-smoking-ban-enforced-
malacanang-urges-public-support

World Health Organization. (2013). WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2013.
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Zoleta, V. (July 18, 2018). Why the nationwide smoking ban is good for you. Retrieved
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