C.O. 2241: Who Can Stop The Puff?

A middle-aged man, a resident of Barangay Lorega-San Miguel, is busy playing mah-jong. It was already past 10 in the evening, but the man’s nine-year-old son is still awake, waiting by his side.

The man then gave his son a few coins and instructed him to buy three sticks of cigarettes at a nearby store. “Padagkuti lang daan dong,” he said. Later, the little boy came back with lighted cigarette. “Giyupyop nako Pa aron dili mapawong,” the boy told his father.

Did you know that when the man asked his child, a minor, to buy cigarettes for him, he already violated a provision of Republic Act 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act, which regulates the packaging, use, sale, distribution and advertisement of tobacco products?

Aside from the national law that regulates the sale and use of cigarettes, the Cebu City Council had also enacted Ordinance 2241, which also penalizes persons who violate the provisions of Republic Act 9211.

The laws, however, are not strictly implemented by the authorities.

VIOLATIONS

This writer interviewed sari-sari store owners who sell cigarettes and most of them claimed they do not know that there is a law that prohibits the selling of cigarettes to minors below 18 years old.

“Wala g’yud ko kahibawo nga duna diay balaud ana,” said Aning, owner of a sari-sari store along Katipunan Street in Barangay Labangon.

Section 9 of Republic Act 9211 provides that “It shall not be a defense for the person selling or distributing cigarettes that he or she did not know or was not aware of the real age of the minor. Neither shall it be a defense that she or he did not know nor had any reason to believe that the cigarette or any other tobacco product was for the consumption of the minor to whom it was sold.”

The law provides that in case of doubt as to the age of the buyer, the retailers or the vendors shall verify, by means of any valid form of photographic identification containing the date of birth of the bearer. The minor is also prohibited from smoking cigarettes.

Republic Act 9211 also considers it unlawful for any person to buy cigarettes or any tobacco products from minor vendors. A quick check in some areas of the city will prove that there are minors selling cigarettes.

Because of the ill-effects of smoking, as well as inhaling secondhand smoke, the government also enacted Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, which bans smoking in public areas.

R.A 9211 prohibits drivers of public utility vehicles like PUJs, taxi cabs, vans for hire, passenger buses and others public transport vehicles from smoking. The reason for this is that the health of the passengers, especially pregnant women and children, will also be compromised.

The selling of cigarettes and other tobacco products are also prohibited within 100 meters from schools, but again, this is not strictly enforced.

Smoking is also banned in areas intended for activities for the youth. (Image credit: www.business.inquirer.net)

Smoking is also banned in areas intended for activities for the youth such as playschools, preparatory schools, elementary schools, colleges and universities, youth hostels and recreational facilities for persons under 18 years old.

Other places that smoking is banned include elevators, stairways and areas where there are fire hazards, including gas stations and storage areas for flammable liquid, gas, explosives or combustible materials.

Smoking is also prohibited in buildings and premises of public and private hospitals, medical, dental and optical clinics, health centers, nursing homes, dispensaries and laboratories.

Aside from imposing penalties to drivers of public utility vehicles, the law also bans smoking in all PUV terminals, including airports and ship terminals, train and bus stations, restaurants and conference halls.

Building owners and administrators, including privately-owned buildings, are required by law to have designated smoking areas within the building, which maybe be an open space or separate area with proper ventilation, but shall not be located within the same room that has been designated as a non-smoking area.

The managers or operators of commercial and public buildings are also required to post “NO SMOKING” signs within their respective premises.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

Despite the existence of a national law, and City Ordinance 2241, no major apprehensions have been made in Cebu city.

The national law slaps violators with fines up to P400,000, while the city ordinance provides for fines up to P5,000 and one month imprisonment.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella enjoined the 1,000 policemen in the city to strictly enforce the law against the violators of the provisions of the Tobacco Regulations Act.

Mayor Michael Rama has also directed Dr. Lucille Mercado, head of the city’s Garbo Alyansa Sumbanan Asenso (GASA), the team tasked to clean sidewalks, to spearhead the drive against the violators of the city’s anti-smoking ordinance.

The ordinance provides that the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) or the Office of the Cebu City Environment and Sanitation Enforcement Team (CESET, with the assistance of the City Health department, shall develop and promote a smoking cessation program to discourage the smokers and to quit smoking.

GIVING UP SMOKING

(Image credit: www.studentnewspaper.org)

With the enactment of Republic Act 9211, the advertisement of tobacco and cigarette products have been banned. Manufacturers have also been required to print warnings on cigarette packs indicating that smoking is dangerous to one’s health.

One such warning says “Smoking Kills.”

Simeon Lucaban, a 28-year-old construction worker, said he learned to smoke because his father was a “chain smoker.”

He said that his father consumed more than one pack of cigarettes a day. A pack of cigarettes contains 20 sticks.

Lucaban’s father died in 2005, two years after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. “Grabe g’yud to ka hinabako si Papa. Pagkamatay sa akong Papa, hinay-hinay na ko’g biya,” Lucaban said.