ILOILO City – Over 6,000 violators of the city’s anti-smoking ordinance were fined for using either traditional cigarettes or electronic cigarettes or vapes.
From May when economic activities started to go back to normal until October this year, taskforce agents and Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) personnel apprehended 5,938 cigarette smokers and 433 e-cigarette smokers, data from the Iloilo City Anti-smoking Task Force (ICAST) showed.
Compared to the same period last year, the 2022 data is higher. From May to October, 2021, 4,058 cigarette smokers and 98 vape smokers were fined.
ICAST director Iñigo Garingalao noted an increase in the number of e-cigarette users.
The number of women smokers also increased, he added.
Garingalao said the age range of those apprehended covers almost all ages 18 years old and above, with those using vape ranging between 18 and 28 years old.
Iloilo City was one of the first in the country to campaign against vaping even before then president Rodrigo Duterte ordered the ban on the use and importation of vaping devices or e-cigarettes.
The city’s Regulation Ordinance 2014-527 which prohibits smoking in public places and conveyances covers vaping, too.
Garingalao reiterated that vape being marketed as safer than conventional cigarettes and even as smoking cessation tools is misleading.
“Ang vape ukon e-cigarette nga nahimo subong nga daw uso, indi siya gingamit para nga maka-amat-amat ang tawo untat panigarilyo kundi another way nga mag-propagar sang bisyo sang pagpanigarilyo,” he stressed.
The ICAST director, meanwhile, attributed the increase in the apprehension of illegal smokers to the intensified operation of the ICAST agents and the Philippine National Office.
To further strengthen this anti-smoking campaign, Garingalao reiterated his call to officials of 180 barangays here to help enforce the anti-smoking ordinance.
Under the ordinance, citation tickets would be issued to violators and a fine of P1,500 would be imposed, and/or three days imprisonment at the discretion of the court for the first offense; P2,000 fine and/or five days imprisonment for the second violation; and P5,000 and/or 10 days imprisonment at the discretion of the court for the third and succeeding violations.
Meanwhile, erring establishments or business facilities tolerating or have no anti-smoking signages face a fine of P2,000 for the first offense; P3,000 for the second violation; and P5,000 fine and/or suspension of business permit and later, closure for the third violation.
For erring (selling cigarettes) individual or business establishments with a capital below P5,000, a fine of P1,000 would be imposed for the first violation; P2,000 for the second violation; and P5,000 for the third offense or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five days or both at the discretion of the court./PN
