Duterte signs EO on nationwide smoking ban

FILE PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order implementing a nationwide smoking ban.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said that EO No. 26 was signed on May 16.

The EO provides for the establishment of no smoking areas in public places whether indoor or outdoor.

“Public places means all places, fixed or mobile, that are accessible or open to the public or places for collective use, regardless of ownership or right to access, including but not limited to schools, workplaces, government facilities, establishments that provide food and drinks, accommodation, merchandise, professional services, entertainment or other services. It also includes outdoor spaces where facilities are available for public or where a crowd of people would gather, such as, but not limited to, playgrounds, sports grounds or centers, church grounds, health/hospital compounds, transportation terminals, markets, resorts, walkways/sidewalks, entrance ways, waiting areas and the like,” the EO said.

Also covered by the smoking ban are public conveyances such as  elevators, airplanes, ships, jeepneys, buses, taxicabs, trains, light rail transits, tricycles and other similar vehicles.

In March, Duterte vowed to implement a smoking ban in the country and asked Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial to draft the executive order on this.

He shared his health woes, including his need to use an oxygen machine because of his oxygenation problem from years of smoking. He disclosed that he was using an oxygen machine when sleeping.

“My oxygenation is not good because of smoking,” said the President, who has since kicked the habit.

Davao City, where, Duterte was mayor for more than two decades, has been implementing a total smoking ban in public places.