By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco | Correspondent
TWO major e-cigarette consumer groups are taking Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman Alicia dela Rosa-Bala to task for allegedly trying to hijack the Philippine panel position to an international tobacco-control treaty discussion stressing that it is “obviously beyond the expertise and jurisdiction of the CSC to do so.”
The Vapers Philippines and the PRO Vape consumer groups questioned the presence of Bala at the recent Conference of Parties 7 (COP 7) for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in New Delhi, India, from November 7 to 12.
“According to fellow vapers from Europe, Chairman Bala, as head of the Philippine delegation, supported a proposal that will allow an outright ban of e-cigarettes without prior consultation with the Philippine vaping community,” said Mark Eraña, spokesman for Vapers Philippines.
“What is her expertise in calling for a ban on e-cigarettes? The Civil Service has a lot of problems that need fixing. Why is their chairman spending a week in India talking about banning e-cigarettes,” Alan Marciano, secretary-general of PRO Vape said.
The CSC has been a recipient of a P14-million grant from the American-based Bloomberg Foundation that is campaigning against tobacco smoking and vaping. “What is the purpose of this grant and how are they using it?” Marciano asked.
The Bloomberg web site www.tobaccocontrolgrant.org, disclosed that the CSC received a grant of $104,000 in November 2014 from the foundation and another $183,695 in February this year supposedly to protect the bureaucracy from tobacco industry interference.
“E-cigarettes are different from regular cigarettes and these new products are a lot less dangerous to the health of consumers. In fact, we are encouraging smokers to switch to reduce their chances of getting smoking-related sickness,” Eraña said.
He added that e-cigarettes have been endorsed by the United Kingdom government as 95 percent safer than cigarettes. They are widely available in England, the US and the European Union, leading millions of smokers to quit cigarettes for good.
“We are surprised why even our Department of Health does not see this obvious and glaring distinction in proposing a public- use ban on e-cigarettes similar to that of regular cigarettes. Public health England has said they should be treated differently. It is alarming to note that our Health officials are so uniformed with the latest scientific research findings,” Eraña said.
“There are so many credible scientific studies out there that show e-cigarettes have 90 percent to 95 percent less of the toxins found in cigarette smoke. Why did CSC Chairman Bala choose to ignore them? And what is her claim to expertise in the field of science?” Marciano asked.
“That is not the job, we, the taxpayers are paying her to do. She owes all of us an explanation,” Marciano added.
1 comment
Obviously, people who were not at the conference are making statements as if they had first-hand knowledge of what transpired. This was an international conference, and on the subject of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), it is a fact that several countries have already banned ENDS in their jurisdictions; hence the negotiation was about “prohibiting or regulating” ENDS, with “or” as the operative word. This gives flexibility to countries that have already banned ENDS, while also allowing for regulation by those that do not ban such. (And yes, I was there.)