Duterte warns judges against blocking vape ban

NO VAPING IN PUBLIC President Duterte has ordered the authorities to arrest anyone who uses e-cigarettes in public places and to ban the importation of vaping products. E-cigarette proponents say vaping is better than smoking tobacco, but health officials say there is no study yet on the long-term effects of vaping. —RICHARD A. REYES

President Duterte on Wednesday warned judges around the country not to block his order just a day earlier banning the importation and the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in public places.

“I’m asking the judiciary, any judge, I’m here having a hard time controlling crime and all sorts of toxic materials being imbibed by the young and there are some importations now,” he said in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Department of National Defense at Camp Aguinaldo.

“Judges, I warn you,” the President said. “Do not issue restraining orders to Customs, to Coast Guard. I will not obey your order because of the peculiar situation.”

As legal backing for his order,   Duterte cited a law, which he did not name, that said “you cannot distribute toxic materials in public places.”

Smoke-free environment

The Philippine National Police on Wednesday said it would implement the President’s directive issued late on Tuesday based on Executive Order No. 26, which was issued in 2017 and specifically provided for a smoke-free environment in public and enclosed spaces.

Lt. General Archie Gamboa, the acting PNP chief, warned all policemen that they were also covered by the order and violators would “risk disciplinary sanctions.”

Gamboa directed the police to coordinate with local governments and agencies as well as vape store owners “to enhance the enforcement of the ban,” according to  Brig. General Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesperson.

In his hastily called news conference on Tuesday night, the President ordered the ban on e-cigarettes and vaping products, saying they were “not good” and “contrary to public safety.”

“You know why? Because it is toxic, and the government has the power to issue measures to protect public health and public interest.”

“I am now ordering the law enforcement agencies to arrest anybody vaping in public. That is like smoking. You cannot do it inside a room … You contaminate people who are not yet due to die,”   Duterte said.

The President made his announcement just days after the Department of Health (DOH) reported the country’s first e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (Evali) case—a 16-year-old girl who was hospitalized last month with a severe breathing problem after vaping daily since March.

The Philippine E-Cigarette Industry Association said the ban on e-cigarettes in public was “understandable and just.”

The group, however, declined further comment, saying it would rather “wait for more information” on the President’s order.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the chair of the dangerous drugs committee of the House of Representatives, chided health authorities for their “knee-jerk” reaction to e-cigarettes with no scientific basis to back their recommendation to the President to ban them.

Far less harmful

“It is very much like convicting a person of an offense with a single circumstantial evidence against him,” Barbers said.

He said there were studies in the United Kingdom and other advanced countries that showed that the effects of vaping were “far less harmful” compared to tobacco products.

Duterte, however, said he had long considered the ban.

“It was not really a knee-jerk reaction or a fast solution to what is ailing the country today,” he said. “I was asked this vital question of allowing vaping in this country. And I said I really planned it earlier.”

E-cigarettes were “being used by the youth of this country with gusto, not realizing the dangers,” he added.

He said he ordered the police and the military to arrest people who vape in public after he heard that e-cigarettes were “being used and sold everywhere.”

The DOH on Wednesday said it hoped that Duterte’s new executive order covering the import ban and restricted use of e-cigarettes, which Malacañang’s legal department was finalizing, would be comprehensive to ensure that minors would not have access to e-cigarettes.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said the order should also regulate the product’s contents and make them available only to those age 18 and above.

Harm to children

Both are key features in the DOH’s administrative order in July on the use and sale of e-cigarettes, which was stayed by regional trial courts in Manila and Pasig last month.

Domingo said e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive, and could delay or harm a child’s brain development.

“We also don’t want advertising geared toward children. We want to restrict the flavors, like bubble gum, ‘magic unicorn,’ strawberry cheesecake which children may think are harmless. It may be fragrant but actually it is addicting,” he added.

According to Domingo, the President’s EO may effectively halt the sale of e-cigarettes in the country as “majority of the vaping products [sold here] are imported.”

Dr. Anthony Leachon, Sin Tax Coalition coconvener, said it was good for the President to make the move now while the marketing and development of e-cigarettes in the country were still in the development stages.

Barbers said the Philippines could learn from countries that had dealt with e-cigarette products for years and were led to realize that banning was not the proper response.

“Regulation is the key,” Barbers said. “Banning will only make them proliferate in the underground market and may thus do more harm to the people.”

“If it is less harmful than tobacco, why ban it? he asked.

Still unknown

Domingo said the long-term effects of e-cigarettes were still unknown.

“It’s like the cigarettes, which 50 years ago were only described as something that may be harmful to your health. Now, it is indicated that this can kill because after 40 years we became certain that it can cause deaths,” he said.

“We can’t just wait for another 40 years before we control vapes. By then, a lot would have already died,” Domingo added.

As of Nov. 13, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 2,172 Evali cases and 42 deaths.

Domingo said Brazil, Singapore, the Seychelles, Uruguay and India have banned e-cigarettes.

P1.4-B potential loss

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, House ways and means committee chair, said the government could lose about P1.4 billion in potential revenue from e-cigarettes because of the President’s ban.

He said Congress would be compelled to modify the contents of a bill raising the excise on liquor, e-cigarettes and vapor products to generate additional revenue to fund the Universal Health Care Act.

The DOH compared the lost potential yearly tax earnings from e-cigarettes to around P200 billion spent annually to treat smoking-related illnesses, like lung cancer, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.—REPORTS FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE, JULIE M. AURELIO, JOVIC YEE, MELVIN GASCON AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA