“We would like to congratulate MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino for demonstrating the political will required to enforce the smoking ban in public places in the National Capital Region,” newly reelected PMA president Oscar Tinio said. PMA has 70,000 members nationwide.
Tinio added that there are existing laws on smoking but these are poorly implemented.
“Smoking kills. As physicians, it is our duty to inform the public of the clear and present danger of tobacco smoking against our health and lives,” he said.
Tinio added: “Second hand and even third hand tobacco smoke equally kills people,” as he cited a study on Metro Manila’s 12-million inhabitants showing that more than 20 percent of heart attacks in Metro Manila can be attributed to second hand smoke. The study was done by the World Lung Foundation and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
The same study, according to Tinio, also revealed that if one’s average exposure to second hand tobacco smoke in Metro Manila is one to seven hours per week, the total attributable heart attacks would be approximately 10 percent.
But if the average number of hours of exposure is more than 21 hours per week, the number of second hand smoke-related heart attacks in Metro Manila would increase to more than 20 percent of the total heart attacks in the metropolis.
“A separate study done in the United States by the US Department of Health and Human Services showed that only by eliminating smoking in indoor spaces can a nonsmoker be fully protected from exposure to second-hand smoke.
This study further confirms that the usual practice of separating smokers from nonsmokers in public places cannot eliminate dangerous exposures of nonsmokers to second hand smoke, even if air cleaning devices and building ventilations are used, Tinio also said.
The Philippines was among the 172 countries that originally signed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international treaty negotiated under the WHO that entered into force on February 25, 2005. This treaty was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic. The Philippines has yet to fully comply with its obligations under that treaty.
Earlier the PTI president Rodolfo Salanga said MMDA’s campaign runs counter to the provisions of Republic Act 9211, otherwise known as the Tobacco Regulations Act of 2003.
The PTI is composed of PMFTC Inc., Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc., Fortune Tobacco Corp., Japan Tobacco Inc., La Suerte Cigar and Cigarette Factory, Associated Anglo American Tobacco Corp., Mighty Corp, among others.
Salanga said PTI believes that the MMDA stepped out of bounds when it included major roads on the list of areas where smoking is disallowed.
