ENVIRONMENT and public health advocates urged millions of Metro Manila residents to support the anti-smoking and littering campaign in the metropolis.
Both the EcoWaste Coalition and Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) said the smoke-free goal for Manila by 2012 will help prevent tobacco-related diseases among residents as well as transients.
This will further reduce the volume of toxic-laden cigarette butts that are tossed onto streets and street gutters, canals and rivers, the groups said.
The metrowide ban on smoking in public places started last Friday, after a month-long information drive that saw environmental enforcers of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) issuing warnings to 8,792 violators.
As of 6 p.m. Friday, the MMDA has apprehended 249 people for violation of the smoking ban and 189 for anti-littering.
First time offenders will be fined with P500 or eight hours of community service if they are unable to pay. A third offense carries a fine of P10,000.
Earlier, the Philippine Medical Association vowed to send doctors to the streets to inform the public about the hazards of smoking.
“If cigarette butt receptacles are to be provided, we caution the local government units not to accept donations from tobacco companies as they will only use this to gain some advertising mileage,” the EcoWaste and FCAP said.
LGUs must not fall into the ‘green washing’ trap by tobacco companies, which directly flouts our commitment under the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), they said.
The FCTC, which the government ratified in 2005, specifically requires state parties to legislate and implement a comprehensive ban on TAPS, or tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
It is estimated that one Filipino dies in tobacco-related death every 10 seconds, making it an alarming public health crisis according to the WHO.
These include, among others, stroke, cancer, heart attacks, tuberculosis, chronic lower respiratory disease, pneumonia, and diseases that occur around childbirth.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/loc...-lauded-164603
There are pros and cons on the smoking ban issue. But the most commonly claimed pro is that there are so many scientific medical reasons that smoking in public should be banned. Not only does smoking hurt the person who is smoking, but recent scientific and medical evidence shows that the dangers associated with second hand smoking are extremely serious and relevant. This takes the wind out of the argument that says, "I choose to smoke, and it's only my body I am hurting." When you smoke in public, you are putting everyone around you at risk. This includes the employees of the establishment where you are smoking. Many workers at bars find they are suffering from the same physical symptoms that smokers face because of the impact of second hand smoke at their place of employment. 
Originally Posted by Dedworth
... GOOD ON them ... they're to be admired! It's those who adopt a "holier 
than thou" attitude thereafter, that 
me off!
Sadly, it didn't prevent her from dying prematurely of cancer. (albeit not of the lung!) 
, he was ... a regular punter at singles' events I later attended - at a time when smoking in pubs, clubs and dance halls was still the norm. He'd sniff the air 
on entry ... and furtively remove empty ashtrays from whichever vacant table(s) he chose to sit at - making it patently obvious smokers weren't welcome to *join him. Mind you, he needn't have bothered 
... because very few folk [if any] ever *did - or wanted to - not even the other non-smokers !!! 
... what a sheer waste of valuable manpower and resources! People are already aware of these risks. If the PMA has money to spare on crappy propaganda like that, then it ought, INSTEAD, to let doctors, nurses and ancillary workers get on with the job they're paid to do - treating those with serious, life-threatening illnesses - and plough any excess into funding free and/or subsidised care for the most needy.
... 
