BACOLOD City – The city government will resume the strict implementation of the anti-smoking ordinance following Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez’s Executive Order (EO) No. 034, reconvening the Bacolod Anti-Smoking Task Force (BASTF) on Sept. 13.
City Ordinance (CO) No. 641 regulates smoking in public places and conveyances and ensures the strict enforcement of Republic Act 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.
The BASTF is led by the city mayor as the chairperson; together with Councilor Simplicia Distrito, vice chairperson; and its members — the Sangguniang Panlungsod chair on the Committee on Health and Sanitation, City Health Office, Business Permits and Licensing Office, Bacolod City Police Office, and others.
Jonald Pamposa, who is also a member of the BASTF, will serve as the action officer and the overall coordinator among all the local government offices involved in the implementation of CO No. 641 Series of 2013 and CO 09-16-784 Series of 2016 which amended certain provisions of CO 641 and enhanced the composition of the BASTF and its functions.
Benitez said the BASTF was convened previously and its Action Team was organized to enforce the ordinance but eventually halted its operation due to the emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Apart from the implementation and enforcement of the EO, as well as protecting the tobacco industry from interference at all times, the task force will also conduct educational awareness campaigns, information dissemination programs, and capacity-building programs to inform constituents and train enforcement officers, the mayor added.
Meanwhile, Distrito warned the public to abide by the ordinances because several teams are deployed in different places in the city, particularly in schools, hospitals and other public places, to apprehend violators.
Anyone who violates the ordinances will be fined P500 for the first offense; P1,000 for the second offense; and P2,500 or 30 days in jail for the third offense.
The councilor added that establishments will be penalized too if they allow smoking on their premises. The penalty includes the cancellation of business permit.
Earlier, Distrito authored a resolution requesting Benitez to convene the BASTF to aid in the implementation, enforcement, and monitoring of the existing smoking regulation policies.
She said “non-compliant” cigarettes were also proliferating in the city, depriving the city government of potential revenues from excise tax.
This has caused a flood of cheaper cigarettes into the market, thereby making them more accessible to the public, especially the youth, she added./PN
