Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. INQUIRER.net file photo / Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque has expressed his support for President Rodrigo Duterte’s move to ban the use and sale of electronic cigarettes and vape products, but clarified that they did not expect of the Palace order that is a bit “draconian.”
Duque said on Thursday that the original Department of Health (DOH) plan was to move towards banning vape, albeit in a gradual measure.
“We support it 1,000 percent because unang-una (first and foremost) he is our President and his reasons are quite clear that he feels this will protect the health of our people, the use in particular which is the market of the vape products, so we support it,” he said in a radio interview with DZMM.
When asked if they lobbied for the measure, Duque denied doing so. He said that what might have pushed Duterte to implement a ban are the temporary restraining orders from the Manila and Pasig Regional Trial Courts on the Department of Health having regulatory control of vape products.
“No, we did not, our position has been very clear, at the start we thought the regulation would be a decision initial step, and gradually moving towards banning it was the original intent, but you know we have been overtaken by events,” he explained.
“I think, I like to believe is the reason, that made the President decide to ban it is when he heard the two courts […] had TRO’d, put our DOH FDA administrative order. And so that probably somehow contributed to the President’s, well, a bit ‘draconian’ measure,” he added.
Duterte made the remark during a late night press conference on Tuesday, after a 16-year-old female teenager was hospitalized for shortness of breath, coughing and fever.
Doctors and the DOH are monitoring the patient to check whether the incident can be contributed to the use of electronic cigarette and vaping product, which resulted in the lung ailment.
The President said that unlike cigarette smoking, the dangers of vape use have not been documented yet — something that Duque echoed.
“Unang una ang karanasan natin sa sigarilyo mahaba na [First of all, our experience with cigarettes is far too long] to have a confidence to say that it can really endanger the health of an individual who has been smoking for the long term,” Duque noted.
(First, we have a long experience with cigarettes to be confident to say that it can really endanger the health of an individual who has been smoking for the long term.)
“The other one, our experience is rather limited […] so we cannot compare the two. But in spite of the fact na ‘yong experience ay maiksi, nakaka-alarma dahil ang mga lumalabas na mga ulat halimbawa mula sa Amerika, meron lampas 21 states sa Amerika na nagre-report ng EVALI,” he added.
(The other one, our experience is rather limited […] so we cannot compare the two. But in spite of the fact that our experience is short, it is alarming because of reports that in Amerika, over 21 states in Amerika have recorded cases of EVALI.)
In Congress, proposed measures have been filed banning the use, sale, importation, and marketing of vape products, as such ban would need either an executive order or a law that would allow enforcers to arrest those involved in vaping products.
Senator Francis Tolentino on Tuesday filed Senate Bill No. 1183, which will penalize people involved in the sale and use of vape by a still undetermined fine.