By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Sub Editor
PENANG, Malaysia — Smoke-free policies could improve public health and support tourism in the Philippines, but their success depends on whether the government puts health ahead of tobacco and nicotine industry interests, a tobacco control expert said on Thursday.
“Smoke-free environments benefit everyone,” Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) Executive Director and physician Ulysses Dorotheo said at a press briefing during the 10th Asia-Pacific Smoke-free Meeting in Penang. “The only ones who do not benefit will be the tobacco and nicotine industry.”
The Philippines is among three Southeast Asian countries that have yet to ban e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches, along with Malaysia and Indonesia, Mr. Dorotheo said.
“The response of the government depends on political will to ensure that public health takes priority over commercial interests,” he said, adding that the Philippines already has policies limiting industry influence.
Mr. Dorotheo cited a joint memorandum circular issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Health that protects government officials and agencies from tobacco industry interference.
“If it was fully implemented, we would not allow the industry to provide briefing papers and drafts of legislation,” he told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the event.
The circular, titled “Protection of the Bureaucracy against Tobacco Industry Interference,” prohibits public officials from unnecessary interactions with or preferential treatment of the industry, as well as accepting its gifts, donations and sponsorships. Violations carry administrative disciplinary action.
“The problem is no official has actually been sanctioned yet,” Mr. Dorotheo said. He added that enforcement depended on the appointing authority, making penalties difficult when the official concerned is a member of Congress.
Mr. Dorotheo said authorities must enforce smoke-free rules without exceptions. He cited establishments with designated smoking rooms, which he said undermine the goal of preventing smoking and vaping indoors.
He said hospitality businesses that had resisted smoke-free rules in the past had come to recognize that banning smoking could benefit their operations.
Mr. Dorotheo also criticized gaps in the Philippine vape law, which allows indoor vaping in designated smoking areas and online marketing of vape products. He said these provisions could contribute to rising vape use among young people.
“[The] vape law is a bad law,” he said. “It’s favorable to the industry. So, it’s like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It pretends to be a regulatory effort of the government, but it actually allows the industry to promote its products.”
He said the argument that vape products would help adult smokers quit had not been borne out, as millions of adults continued to smoke while thousands of young people had taken up vaping.
SEATCA Board Chairman Somsak Chunharus said businesses also have a responsibility to protect public health under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
“For the good health of the public, commercial sectors have a lot of responsibility to share,” he told the same briefing. “So, addressing commercial interests, just to make sure that they agree with the public health, would certainly be one of the so-called future battlegrounds.”
CO-OPTING ‘SMOKE-FREE’Tobacco control advocates in the region face another challenge as manufacturers promote nicotine products using the term “smoke-free,” YB Daniel Gooi Zi Sen, Penang State executive councilor for youth, sports and health, said at the briefing.
“Under the guise of reduced-risk alternatives and claims of unsmoking the world, the industry is flooding our markets with e-cigarettes or vapes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches,” he said, citing colorful packaging, flavors and social media marketing.
Mr. Gooi Zi Sen said replacing conventional cigarettes with other addictive products did not amount to harm reduction but could perpetuate nicotine addiction.
Malaysia has yet to ban vapes and other nicotine products, but existing policies and political developments point toward a possible nationwide prohibition, he said.
Act 852, or the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act of 2024, provides a framework for regulating conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other nicotine products, he said.
“Our [Health] minister had publicly declared it’s not a matter of ifs, but it’s a matter of when,” he said. “So, this is something that the state government of Penang [will continue] pursuing with the Ministry of Health because it cannot be done just by our state alone.”
Mr. Gooi Zi Sen also cited the federal government’s decision not to appeal a High Court ruling that reversed the removal of liquid nicotine from the country’s poison list.
“The federal government decided not to appeal,” he said. “It shows that there is a determination by the federal government to move on with the entire ban nationwide, in particular e-cigarettes and vaping and all that.”