Tobacco, vape at gov’t crosshairs

The Marcos government wants to do more to fight tobacco use in the Philippines ahead of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, or COP10-WHO FCTC, Malacañang said on Sunday.

In a speech by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Dominic Guevara, read by Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary for Digital Media and Communications Patricia Kayle Martin in Panama, the Philippines said things have moved in a good direction.

Guevara said excise taxes on tobacco and vapor products brought in $3 billion for the government in 2022.

He said the government used the funds for essential programs like universal healthcare and Covid-19 recovery and infrastructure projects like farm-to-market roads, schools, hospitals, and rural health facilities.

“In adherence to FCTC Article 6, since enacting the relevant law in 2012, the Philippines has consistently increased excise tax rates on cigarettes and tobacco products, making cigarettes less affordable, and consequently decreasing consumption,” he said.

“In addition, the Philippines is currently in the process of enacting legislation entitled ‘Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act’ that declares smuggling of tobacco as economic sabotage and aims to illicit tobacco trade in the Philippines,” the official added.

‘Great job’

The Philippines, Guevara said, has done a great job of following the WHO FCTC. He said that the Philippine Global Adult Tobacco Survey showed that tobacco use dropped from 23.8 percent of adults in 2015 to 19.5 percent of adults in 2021.

He said that the significant progress on GATS was due to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s whole-of-nation approach.

Guevara also said that the Marcos administration had improved the government’s tobacco regulation coordinating mechanism and the multi-sectoral national policy on tobacco regulation, which is in line with Articles 5.1 and 5.2a of the FCTC.

He talked about the passing of Republic Act 11900, also known as the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act. This law set the rules for the production, sale, packaging, distribution, use, and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products and other new tobacco products.

The RA 11900 is an addition to other laws, such as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, the Graphic Health Warning Law, and the Excise Tax Laws on new tobacco goods.

“This new law safeguards minors by restricting the sale, including online trade, distribution, and marketing of these products and prohibits tobacco product-related activities within a hundred meters of schools, playgrounds, and facilities frequented by minors,” Guevarra said, referring to RA 11900.