Department order still in effect against smoking in public

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH)-7 has advised offices and the public that the agency’s department order on smoking ban remains in effect, while waiting for the release of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Executive Order (EO) 26.

DOH-7 Regional Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas said the agency is yet to release the IRR of EO 26 banning smoking in public places, whose implementation started last Sunday.

“The implementing rules and regulations are supposed to be issued by the department… They (health department officials) will be coming up with a comprehensive IRR. For now, we are using the old department order on the smoking ban and the civil service issuance,” Bernadas told reporters yesterday.

The smoking ban has been earlier pushed by various government entities.

The Civil Service Commission, for one, has prohibited smoking in government offices within its premises.

For him, there is nothing new to the policy but the executive order rather serves as an “enhancement” to the existing orders.

“It (policy) is now an executive order affirming all of these initiatives of the different departments to ban smoking in public places and in government offices,” he said.

As to its implementation, Bernadas said the responsibility lies on the local government units (LGU) and it depends on how the respective officials adopt the executive order and formulate their own strategies to enforce the policy.

“Implementation or police powers are all vested to the LGU’s and the PNP (Philippine National Police). Violators will face different penal provisions of individual ordinances in the municipalities (and cities)… except for government employees and officers who are bounded by the CSC penal provisions,” he said.

The police and the smoke-free task force duly authorized by the LGU are directed to carry out the EO, including apprehension of violators and the institution of criminal proceedings.

Ma. Ligaya Moneva, focal person on National Tobacco Control, said the role of DOH is on intensifying the information drive educating the public on the ill effects of smoking.

She said the regional office has already done several efforts to strengthen their education campaign since then.

Governor Hilario Davide III, for his part, supports Duterte’s EO 26, which the president signed last May 16.

Davide said that it is a great move of the administration to finally implement such law which hinders smoking on all public areas nationwide, even if some municipalities around the region have already passed an ordinance banning smoking in their localities.

“And I think, I believe, daghan mang mga cities and even municipalities na dunay ilang kaugalingon nga ordinances. They just have to enforce it,” he said.

As a person who is into smoking, the governor said that the nationwide smoking ban would greatly affect him. Nevertheless, he urges each individual to abide by the law. — May B. Miasco, Mary Rose C. Sumabong (FREEMAN)