MANILA, Philippines -- Beginning Tuesday, cigarette advertisements are banned on television, radio and print in accordance with the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 or Republic Act No. 9211.
Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), said the total ad ban on cigarettes would be a tremendous help to health advocates who are working to discourage teenagers and young adults from smoking.
?Starting [Tuesday], cigarette ads will be banned in all forms of mass media,? she said. ?This is a big thing for us because young people are the target of the ads.?
Roberto del Rosario, advertising executive and FCAP board member, said the prohibition on cigarette advertising would save millions of Filipino youth from tobacco-related diseases. He said that cigarette firms were ?fooling? the youth in their ads.
?If you notice, print advertisements convey a fun and enjoyable lifestyle, when in fact, the tobacco industry is aware that smoking causes agonizing ailments like emphysema, lung cancer, etc. Are these [conditions] enjoyable? Is this a true [picture] of a pleasant lifestyle? It is sad that the tobacco industry is looking for replacement smokers for those who have already died,? he said.
?There are already four million young Filipinos who smoke -- we don?t want this number to increase. Instead, we have to protect millions of children. That is why a total ad ban is imperative,? Del Rosario added.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 80,000 and 100,000 children pick up the habit every day. Half of the neophyte smokers come from Asia, with teens heavily influenced by cigarette advertisements.
The Western Pacific region -- which covers East Asia and the Pacific -- has the highest smoking rate with nearly two-thirds of men smoking. Cigarette companies are among the top 10 advertisers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines.
According to the WHO, one in three cigarettes consumed worldwide is smoked in the Western Pacific region and a quarter of its youth population could die from smoking.
