Tobacco.org

Anti-smoking law in Cagayan de Oro ‘outdated’  

WHILE other regions in the country are strictly implementing their anti-smoking ordinances, Cagayan de Oro seems to be “quiet and passive” in implementing this law.

The city’s anti-smoking law may have become outdated, Councilor Edgar Cabanlas said, adding the law should have clearly defined what “public places” mean.

Councilors Dante Pajo and Ian Mark Nacaya both admitted there is an existing anti-smoking ordinance in the city. However, they said it is now the duty of the city mayor to implement the ordinance.

Both city councilors emphasized that the City Administrator, being the alter ego of the city mayor, may have known if the anti-smoking ordinance is strictly implemented.

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• Farmers to suffer from higher cigarette taxes 

THE Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI) has expressed dismay at a Palace statement that the government will not budge in its plan to raise alcohol and cigarette taxes, warning that tobacco farmers will suffer from higher taxes.

PTI President Rodolfo Salanga described as worrisome the recent pronouncement of presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, that there would be no compromise on the bill of the Department of Finance (DOF) that seeks to restructure the excise tax system on cigarettes and alcohol products which will hike tax rate on cigarettes by as much as 1,000 percent.

Lacierda claimed that the “rationalization” of the tax scheme will result in the collection of an additional P60 billion in revenues.

“Be warned when a bureaucrat starts mouthing words like “rationalize” or “right-size.” What usually happens is a number of people will find themselves jobless, Salanga said.

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No smoking 

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines (PNA) -- Officials in here declared its entire city hall complex as a "no-smoking zone" as the local government launched an intensified campaign for the full enforcement of the country's anti-smoking law in the area.

Mayor Peter Miguel said they issued the declaration to set an example among other government and private establishments to abide by the prohibition against smoking in public places as provided for under Republic Act (RA) 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 and a local anti-smoking ordinance.

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• No Smoke and Mirrors: PMFTC president Chris Nelson and the company's commitment to the Philippines  

Running a business that faces a lot of challenges might lead some corporations to crumble, but for PMFTC Inc. (PMFTC) president Chris Nelson, this only makes his resolve to do his best stronger. PMFTC is the corporation formed on February 25, 2010, when select assets of Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI) and Fortune Tobacco Corp. (FTC) were combined in said new company. Being the largest tobacco company in the country, it has experienced a lot of challenges that have made it into the company that it is today.

"I consider the combination of our domestic operations with FTC as one of Phillip Morris' highlights as a company," Nelson shares.

Through the asset combination, a lot of opportunities opened up for both companies that resulted in the continued growth of the business. But how do you define growth? . . .

"The survey showed that 94 percent of our employees are proud to be working for Philip Morris," shares Nelson.

PMFTC president Chris Nelson with PMFTC employees help paint a 103-year-old school building at the Francisco Benitez Memorial School in Pagsanjan, Laguna.

Nelson equates this to the company's efforts to keep everybody informed and aware of the management's decisions. . . .

Through the years, Philip Morris has surpassed quite a number of challenges; one of which was the passage of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which prohibits the advertising of cigarette brands in media. It was a challenge the company faced head on without flinching.

The challenge was to keep selling the product and to keep the growth of the company consistent. While a lot of people severely criticize the tobacco industry, one should also understand the gains it contributed to the country. . . .

Philip Morris has been there for the country when storms Ondoy, Pedring, Falcon, and Juaning wrecked havoc on our shores. Recently, the company donated eight million pesos to the victims of tropical storm Sendong in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro City; this coming from a company that is always hit by certain sectors of the society and the media.

"Our disaster relief operations are always going to be there. As much as you do not want them to be," Nelson assures.

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Philippines pushes tobacco – for fish farming 

The Philippines has launched a new campaign promoting tobacco -- not for smoking but for fish farming, a government tobacco agency official said Thursday.

Over six months, about 400 fish-farmers in the northern coastal province of La Union will be using "tobacco dust" to kill mollusks and other predators that prey on fish, said Rex Teoxon of the National Tobacco Administration.

"We are going to train the fisher folk and the whole community on sustainable aqua culture using the tobacco dust," said Teoxon, head of the agency's corporate planning department.

The drive is part of an effort to find alternative uses for the crop in the face of the global anti-smoking campaign.

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Search for Maasin City smoke-free barangay is on 

The search for a smoke -free barangay otherwise known as Red Orchid Award Barangay in Maasin City is on.

This development came as the barangay captains of the 70 strong- barangays in the city underwent an orientation conducted by the Healthy City Initiatives (HCI) this week, so disclosed Maasin City In Action anchorman Zaldy Olita during its weekly program over DyDM radio station in Maasin City.

Olita reported that Maasin City Mayor Maloney Samaco wanted that the achievement of the city as a Red Orchid Awardee replicated down to the barangay level. "This is not only for the sake of getting an award but it would also be beneficial for the health of the whole barangay, " Samaco was noted.

Olita said the barangays were encouraged to come up with their own information dissemination activities such as setting up of posters and tarpaulins that depict the dangers of smoking.

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Stop smoking, pulmonology experts urge  

Stop smoking and lessen your predisposition to lung cancer.

This was the message of pulmonology experts Tuesday as they revealed that lung cancer is now the number one cancer type in the Philippines.

In 2010, the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS) estimated a total of 11,458 new lung cancer cases in both males and females while the estimated number of deaths due to the disease would have been 9,184.

Pulmonologist and chairman on lung malignancy issues of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP) Dr. Windfield Tan said smoking has been found as "an established cause of lung cancer."

"If you are a smoker, you are 8 to 10 times more at risk with lung cancer. If you are a second-hand smoker, you are also at risk. A cigarette has some 43 to 63 carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals but you will not immediately feel the effect. It will depend upon the length of your consumption and exposure to tobacco," Tan said.

Tan spoke in a conference organized by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) as medical experts mark the National Cancer Consciousness month this January.

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NTA gives P5.4 M to Abra tobacco farmers  

The National Tobacco Administration (NTA) has given a total of P5.4 million to tobacco farmers of Abra this cropping season.

The loan package is part of the production assistance given to farmers under the Tobacco Contract Growing System of the NTA to sustain the tobacco industry.

NTA administrator Edgardo D. Zaragoza, in a recent visit to Bangued, Abra, said he is happy to see local officials, led by Governor Eustaquio P. Bersamin, utilizing their share from the tobacco excise tax under Republic Act 7171 for the benefit of the tobacco-growers.

NTA-Abra branch manager Esmeralda G. Valera, in a report, said a total of 261 tobacco farmers had already availed of the production loan assistance.

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Tobacco growers get P5.4-m crop assistance  

Tobacco growers in Abra province obtained a P5.4 million as production assistance from the National Tobacco Administration to perk up the age-old industry.

Administrator Edgardo Zaragoza said the loan package under the Tobacco Contract Growing System is targeted to sustain the livelihood of a major segment of the farming population.

"We are happy at NTA to learn that the provincial and municipal governments are wisely using their share from the Tobacco Excise Tax Act purposely for the benefit of our tobacco growers," he said. "We have to return to them the benefits derived from tobacco production, especially the building of farm to market roads, so that they will be able to deliver their produce to the prospective markets the soonest."

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Bidding set on tobacco security stamp 

INTERNAL Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares is set to bid out the stamp-security system for the country’s tobacco products in the first half of 2012, a process that has been in the pipeline for several years.

Henares said there are about five foreign players interested in the project, but the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) may limit the bidders to those who are not in the business of manufacturing tobacco products.

PMFTC Corp., the combined company of Philip Morris Fortune and Tobacco Corp., earlier offered to shoulder the cost of the stamp-tax scheme on tobacco products using its own technology.

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Tobacco-zone solons resist new restrictions on cigarettes  

Lawmakers from tobacco-planting provinces are up in arms over what they deem to be arbitrary government regulation against local cigarette manufacturers.

Rep. Victor Ortega of La Union province complained, in an e-mail, of "too much restrictions" imposed against cigarette manufacturers in recent years. He warned this would lead to the collapse of an industry on which thousands of Ilocano farmers have relied on for decades.

He is taking issue with the move to use graphic images of smoking-related illnesses on cigarette packs. This does not address the real problem, which is the government's failure to enforce the ban against smoking by minors, for example, according to him.

"What's the use of passing new laws if we cannot strictly enforce existing rules and regulations like the ban on selling cigarettes to minors," he asked.

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Solon warns on death of local tobacco industry 

THE government has been urged to enforce existing rules and regulations before considering new laws related to tobacco smoking.

La Union Rep. Victor Ortega warned that the death of the local tobacco industry triggered by too much restrictive rules and regulations can force tobacco farmers in the Ilocos region to think about going back to marijuana planting.

“If the tobacco industry dies, I can assure you that many of our tobacco farmers will think about going back to planting marijuana,” said Ortega during the recent hearing by the House Committee on Health on proposals to attach graphic health warnings on cigarette packs.

Ortega said marijuana is “definitely more dangerous to health and downright illegal.”

“So please consider this also as one aspect in our study of these bills,” he said during the hearing presided by committee vice chair Rep. Anthony Golez (Lone District, Bacolod City).

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Cigarette rules not properly implemented  

The national government should endeavor to enforce existing rules and regulations before considering new tax measure, like the indexation of excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol, a lawmaker from La Union said.

While the Department of Finance (DoF) wanted the proposed hike in levies on alcohol and tobacco be approved by the middle of next year, La Union Representative Victor Ortega pointed that the government has yet properly implemented the rules and regulations on cigarettes.

"What's the use of passing new laws if we cannot strictly enforce existing rules and regulations like the ban on selling cigarettes to minors," Ortega said.

But the finance department explained that there is a need to raise tobacco and alcohol taxes so that the industry is not controlled by just one company and to improve the government's tax efficiency.

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• World Bank urges PH to hike tobacco, alcohol taxes 

The World Bank has urged the Philippine government to increase the share of excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol to nearly 1.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years.

In a report, the World Bank said the move would not only increase its income share to the government coffers but the additional revenues can be used to improve health services and social protection.

"Likewise, the incremental revenue would enable the government to increase its human and physical investment to improve the country's growth and development prospects," the World Bank report said.

It added that this would also address the large negative externalities arising from smoking and drinking, and to discourage their consumption.

"Over the medium term, higher excise rates would induce the poorer households to reduce consumption compared to wealthier households, thus savings from reduced consumption (by the poorer households) can be channeled to food and human capital investment to enhance their welfare," the World Bank said in its latest Philippine quarterly update.

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QC smokers support cigarette price increase  

A recent survey of smokers in Quezon City conducted by the University of the Philippines Communication Research Society showed that 73 percent of smokers agree to increase the prices of cigarettes to prevent the youth from smoking.

The survey sample was composed of 89-percent males and 11-percent females, aged 15 to 30 (48.8 percent); 31 to 45 (33.7 percent); 41 to 60 (14.7 percent); and 61 to 75 (2.8 percent). 464 are daily smokers, 25 smoke weekly, and only seven smoke occasionally on a monthly basis. Of these 496 respondents, 66 percent admit to smoking more than 10 packs of cigarettes per month, 24 percent smoke between three and 10 packs, and only 10 percent smoke below three packs. Sixty percent of the samples consume cigarettes that are categorized as high-priced.

Tobacco tax reforms can significantly increase the prices of cigarettes through the removal of the price classification freeze and shifting to a unitary tax system. Cigarette prices should also be regularly adjusted to inflation rates and the purchasing power of consumers.

When asked how a price increase would affect the cigarette consumption of the respondents, 71 percent said that they would either stop or decrease their smoking.

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