Pass law vs vaping first before arresting vapers, says solon

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines  – A law prohibiting vaping or e-cigarette smoking must first be passed before authorities can arrest vapers, a legislator said.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro, second district) said the government, specifically President Rodrigo Duterte, could not just order the police to arrest those vaping in public without a law prohibiting it.

Rodriguez said he based his stand on the criminal law principle of “nullum crimen sine lege,” which means a person can only be arrested to face criminal punishment for acts that had been criminalized by law before he or she had committed it.

“The House is now deliberating the various bills on vaping and e-cigarettes. Let Congress pass a law on vaping first,” he said in a text message on Friday, Nov. 22.

Citing that vaping is “toxic,” Duterte ordered on Tuesday, Nov. 19, the ban on vaping, directing the Philippine National Police (PNP) to arrest those who would violate his order.

Lt. Col. Mardy Hortillosa, police regional spokesperson here, said Saturday that police have so far made no arrest yet.

Hortillosa said they received the memorandum from the PNP directorate for operation on Nov. 20, only hours after Duterte issued his order.

“We received a memo from Camp Crame to arrest any person that will violate the vaping ordinance in the municipality and city. We are ordered also to coordinate with the vaping establishments to make then aware of the directive,” he said.

Hortillosa said they would enforce the directive not only in areas where an ordinance penalizing the use of vaping had been passed but also in areas where there is no local law prohibiting vaping.

He said police will record the names of those caught vaping in public, and then let them go.

Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa, PNP officer-in-charge, said the directive orders police officers to arrest all violators and have their names properly recorded in the police blotters, also noting the confiscated vaping items.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) called for a ban on vaping because of the lung illnesses it could cause.

Edited by MUF