Philippines Will Snuff Out Public Smoking

The country will soon ban lighting up in public with one of the region’s most stringent anti-tobacco laws.

October 14, 2016

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will soon ban smoking in public, Reuters reports. Health advocates have been campaigning for years for such a ban in Southeast Asia’s second-most populous nation. President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign the tough anti-tobacco law later this month, and the ban would go into effect in November.

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said the ban would eliminate smoking in both indoor and outdoor public places. “Parks, bus stations and even in [public] vehicles. All these are considered public places,” she said. The bill provides for designated smoking areas outside of buildings.

Currently, about a third of the adult population in the Philippines smoke. Sandra Mullin of Vital Strategies estimated that a public smoking ban would lower smoking by 4%. Already, the Filipino government has proposed hiking cigarette and tobacco taxes.

The national ban would be the most stringent in Southeast Asia and would include electronic cigarettes. Analysts predict such a prohibition would impact tobacco companies. “A smoking ban could see any further recovery in the sales dynamics in the market stall,” said Owen Bennett, equity analyst at Jefferies International.

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