A former leader of the House of Representatives asked Senator Pia Cayetano to also think about the livelihood of 3 million Filipinos who are dependent on tobacco farming, manufacture and trade.
“While the state is conscious and responsible in maintaining the health of its citizens, it should also do so mindful of the general welfare of the people, especially the stakeholders of the tobacco industry. Our two laws advocate for balanced policies,” said former Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta.
The SAGIP Party-list representative denounced Cayetano’s diatribes at the Senate, saying she was pushing the Philippine delegation who attended the global tobacco treaty conference in Panama to dismiss Republic Act (RA) No. 9211 and RA 11900, the two laws passed by Congress regulating tobacco use and regulation.
Marcoleta was referring to the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (RA 9211), which regulates tobacco products, and the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act (RA 11900), which regulates smoke-free alternatives to cigarettes such as vapes, heated tobacco and oral nicotine.
He said that during the Panama conference, an observer NGO conferred a “Dirty Ashtray Award” to the Philippines, despite the Philippine delegation’s defense of the country’s sovereignty and support of tobacco harm reduction as legitimate public health strategy.
“I’d rather have one thousand Dirty Ashtrays than one coffin to contain the whole tobacco industry, including the farmers and stakeholders who are depending on the tobacco industry in our country,” Marcoleta said during his Feb. 19 privilege speech.
Marcoleta, in response to Cayetano’s comments, said the Philippine delegation’s active participation in the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s (FCTC) 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) in Panama reflected the country’s laws and balanced policies.
He said the Philippine delegation made a national statement. “We worked for about two weeks, Mr. Speaker, before we left, to ensure a unified statement based on our national policy,” he said.
He said the Philippine delegation participated actively in the FCTC’s Agenda 9 and 10, which addresses the facilitation of implementation of regulation and disclosure of the contents and emission of tobacco products.
Debates were undertaken during the conference about suspending the “working group” and conceding its mandate to an “expert group”. Representatives from signatory-countries to the treaty make up the working group, while nominated individuals who do not respresent their respective countries make up the expert group.
The Philippine delegation did not agree with the expert group having a mandate over policymaking, saying certain legal principles cannot be compromised under the appeal of flexibility and consensus, according to Marcoleta.
“We need to assert, Mr. Speaker, that the expert group must be subordinated to the primacy and the dominant role of the working group consisting of state parties. Because they are the ones accountable to and responsible for the interests of their respective nationalities. We have to emphasize, Mr. Speaker, that the working group has the mandate,” Marcoleta said.
Meanwhile, international harm reduction experts recognized the Philippines for its WHO FCTC position.
During the “GOOD COP/BAD COP” event organized by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) which tackles consumer issues and global policies, international fellow Martin Cullip said, “In COP 9, the Philippines said, ‘we are not going to ban these products, we are going to regulate them.’ And this sent shockwaves throughout the meeting.”
Prof. David Sweanor, chair of the advisory board of the Center for Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at the University of Ottawa, expressed support for the Philippines for successfully resisting a well-funded effort to deny consumers safer alternatives to lethal cigarettes.
“To criticize a country for defending the right of people to access life-saving products shows a frighteningly authoritarian and moralistic agenda. If we are to successfully reduce cigarette smoking, anti-tobacco groups need to learn from countries like the Philippines rather than denigrate them,” Sweanor said.