Pasig City gets tougher on nicotine addicts

Pasig residents who smoke should learn to kick the habit within the next two years or move out of the city.

With the unanimous approval on December 15 of an amended antismoking ordinance, the city has kicked off the gradual implementation of a tougher crackdown on people hooked on nicotine with the goal of making public areas in Pasig completely smoke-free in two years’ time.

“Instead of calling our city smokeless, we prefer our public areas to be smoke-free,” Raquel Naciongayo, head of the city environment and natural resources office, told the Inquirer in a recent interview.

The 16-page amended ordinance, authored by Councilor Alexee Santiago, underwent almost a year of deliberations and revisions before it was approved by the city council.

Under the new and improved ordinance, which will take full effect after two years, violators face stiffer sanctions and bigger fines. Even more important, it does away with the provision in the old ordinance which allows buildings to set aside areas which are exclusive to smokers.

Gradual phaseout

This means that within the next two years, all buildings in Pasig, including bars and other similar establishments, should phase out their designated smoking areas.

“We will first make the ordinance known to the public in the first two years and then proceed to its gradual implementation,” Naciongayo said.

In addition, Pasig enforcers will go after people who smoke on the street, including sidewalks, because unlike Republic Act No. 9211, or the antismoking law, the amended city ordinance defines public places as areas frequented by people.

Naciongayo said the city government’s campaign against smoking was to its advantage because it spends around P15 million a year to treat respiratory diseases and other smoking-related illnesses compared to the P5 million it earns in taxes paid by cigarette firms.