SMOKING DEATHS. An art installation features 321 pairs of footwear for different ages and sexes - each representing the 321 smoking-related deaths in the country daily - at the People's Park in Baguio City on Thursday (April 21, 2022). Dr. Donnabel Tubera-Panes, of the city Health Services Office, on Friday (April 22, 2022) said 1,341 individuals and establishments were penalized in 2021 for violating the city's anti-smoking ordinance. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – The city government has collected last year a total of PHP749,000 in fines from more than 1,000 violators of its anti-smoking ordinance.
The city's anti-smoking task force reported that 890 establishments and 451 individuals were caught violating Ordinance 34-2017 or the Smoke-Free Baguio Ordinance in 2021. The collected fines are placed under a special trust fund for the city’s continuing anti-smoking campaign.
“Tuluy-tuloy tayo, wala ng hinto ito lalo nakikita natin na kahit mahirap ang laban eh may nangyayari na maganda (This will continue and we will not stop because we are slowly seeing the gains despite the difficulty in the fight against smoking," said Donnabel Tubera-Panes, of the city Health Services Office (HSO), in a message on Friday.
Right now, she said only about 15 establishments have been given a permit to have a smoking area.
“For one to have a smoking area, they have to apply and undergo the assessment. One requirement is for the smoking area to be outdoor and located at least 10 meters away from the building or the ingress or egress of the establishment,” Tubera-Panes said.
Sophia San Luis, executive director of ImagineLaw, a public health law organization that advocates and pushes for health policies, in a phone interview, said they are happy with the result of the city's anti-smoking drive. “Natutuwa kami dito sa Baguio kasi maglakad ka at wala kang makikita na naninigarilyo. Kahit sa Burnham Park (We are happy that in Baguio you won't see anybody smoking a cigarette, even at the Burnham Park),” she said.
She added that Baguio has one of the strictest anti-smoking policies in the country.
“Baguio is one of the pinakamahigpit pagdating sa pag implement (Baguio is one of the strictest in the implementation) of the tobacco ordinance... Many local government units have passed their tobacco regulation ordinances but the implementation spells the difference,” she said.
San Luis observed that business establishments do not carry any cigarette print advertisements, and cigarettes are not displayed in sari-sari (general merchandise) stores.
The lawyer said smoking or any disease related to second or third-hand smoking kills an estimated 321 individuals in the Philippines daily or more than 117,000 deaths a year.
In a media interview on the sidelines of the launching of the anti-smoking art installation on Thursday, Cecil Agpaoa, an advocate and member of the Smoke-Free Baguio, said that based on a 2019 survey, about 17 percent and 21 percent of Baguio and Benguet residents, respectively, smoke tobacco, with some of them starting the habit as early as 12 years old.
Before the passage of the ordinance in 2017, the number of smokers was at 35 percent for Baguio City.
“This means we are decreasing the number of smokers,” Agpaoa said.
All three were one in saying that the involvement of the community is playing a big role in making the city smoke-free. (PNA)
