2,906 smokers nabbed in Metro campaign

ALMOST a month after the full implementation of its antismoking policy, environmental enforcers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have apprehended 2,906 smokers caught puffing away in public places.

In a statement released on Friday, the MMDA said 2,695 of those nabbed were males and the remaining 211, females.

Most of the violators were caught in several areas along Edsa, particularly in Monumento-Light Rail Transit station, Farmers’ Market in Cubao, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration-Robinsons’ Galleria area in Ortigas, and in Pasay Rotunda.

During the same period, local government units in Metro Manila enforced their respective antismoking ordinances and issued 1,439 warnings and fined at least 88 violators.

MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino and the 17 Metro Manila mayors earlier agreed to intensify the authority’s no-smoking drive, extending its scope to cover the entire metropolis.

Tolentino also cited the Department of Health in “bringing the antismoking campaign to national consciousness.”

“From Day One of this campaign the Department of Health was behind us, lending their perspective and wisdom of experience as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee under the Tobacco Regulation Act,” he said.

Tolentino stressed that the campaign was never about restricting the rights of smokers but about equally protecting the rights of nonsmokers.

Tolentino clarified that the antismoking campaign also included enforcement of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board 2009 memorandum circular, which bans smoking and the act of carrying a lighted cigarette or other tobacco product in all public utility vehicles.

Under the Tobacco Regulation Act, the smoking ban covers public conveyances and public facilities including transport terminals and train and bus stations.