Baguio hailed for tobacco control efforts

Health advocates on Monday, 30 June, urged other local government units (LGUs) and the national government to follow Baguio City's lead in strengthening tobacco control measures.

This came after Baguio City won the prestigious 2025 Bloomberg Philanthropies Award for Global Tobacco Control at the World Conference on Tobacco Control in Dublin, Ireland.

Mary Ann Mendoza, president of public health think tank HealthJustice Philippines—also a previous Bloomberg awardee in 2012—hailed Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for "setting a standard that other local chief executives should emulate."

“We commend Baguio City for the well-deserved international recognition. Baguio has proven that a smoke-free environment is possible with good governance,” Mendoza said.

The award marks the city's second international citation for its tobacco control efforts. In 2021, the city government, through the Smoke-Free Baguio Task Force (SFTF), received the Healthy Cities Award from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We urge other local chief executives to learn from Baguio’s success in implementing tobacco control measures. Over 112,000 Filipinos die from tobacco-related diseases annually. We hope that the national government will promote this best practice on tobacco control measures at the local level,” Mendoza added.

Baguio City has implemented a Smoke-Free Ordinance since 2017. In a study conducted by the city government and HealthJustice Philippines, Baguio registered the highest level of compliance with smoke-free policies among three LGUs assessed, including the province of Benguet.

According to a recent WHO report, effective tobacco control efforts can save 6.1 billion lives globally.