After a wait of several weeks, President Duterte has finally signed an executive order banning smoking in public places nationwide. The ban is similar to the one that has been in place for some time now in his home city of Davao. Smokers have another two months to wait for EO 26 to take effect, after it is published in a nationally circulated newspaper.
Two months should give the government sufficient time to prepare for the proper implementation of the ban, which even smokers who are aware of the health risks posed by nicotine should welcome. The ban would spare their non-smoking loved ones, particularly children, from second-hand smoke, which some experts say is even more harmful than what smokers ingest.
The Department of Health is the lead agency in drafting the implementing rules and regulations for EO 26, but the lead enforcers will be the local government units and the Philippine National Police. LGUs have had a spotty record in enforcing local smoking bans, especially when key officials such as provincial governors and mayors are smokers themselves. The Duterte administration must ensure that LGUs do not ignore or circumvent the EO.
Business establishments must also not be allowed to make a mockery of the ban. In several areas with local smoking ordinances, restaurants simply display signs designating smoking and non-smoking areas in the same space, without bothering to install solid walls or even portable dividers to actually keep out cigarette smoke from the non-smoking sections. The same situation prevails in many casinos that are located adjacent to restaurants in the same building.
Business establishments can set aside smoking sections, but these must strictly follow building regulations to ensure that the sections truly contain the smoke, with an efficient exhaust and ventilation system. There are such sections in airports. Everyone is entitled to his own poison, but smokers should share their poison only with their kindred spirits.
Proper enforcement of the smoking ban is necessary especially in mass transport vehicles that are not air-conditioned. Jeepneys in particular are havens for smokers, despite anti-smoking ordinances in several cities and towns. The only way to ensure the full implementation of the ban is to apprehend violators. The government must show that in protecting public health, it means business.