Health, trade department reps: Ban cigarette, vape sales within 500 meters of schools

MANILA — Representatives of the Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry agree cigarette and vape sales should be prohibited within 500 meters of schools.

Under current law, the ban only covers an area within 100 meters of a school or other facility frequented by minors.

But during a House Committee on Health meeting on Wednesday, DOH Health Promotion Bureau head Dominic Maddumba said promotional materials for nicotine products would still be visible 100 meters away.

“Dapat po (It should be) 500 meters from around the perimeters po of the school backyards, facilities,” DTI lawyer Frediswenda Beñas said.

Bulacan 2nd District Rep. Augustina Pancho said expanding the exclusion area could help discourage smoking and vaping.

“Siguro ‘yung appetite niya to smoke mawawala na (Maybe the appetite to smoke will go away) because it is very far,” she said.

Antipolo City 2nd District Philip Acop, for his part, wants designated smoking areas removed altogether.

“Gusto niyong magsigarilyo? Sa bahay kayo,” Acop added.

(You want to smoke? Do it at home.)

Maddumba recommended making the designated smoking areas far less comfortable and “very inconvenient”. He said seats and roofs should be removed to discourage people from going there.

The DOH official also highlighted the need for guardians and parents to be educated on what vape products look like, saying some are easy to mistake for innocuous items like highlighters.

Acop also lamented how vaping has become “fashionable” because of their design and because they do not have as strong a smell as cigarettes.

“The main thing why a lot of non-smokers — they didn’t want smoking. Sa vape, naging cool,” he said.

The House panel proceeded to approve measures mandating a smoke and vape-free environment in public spaces and workplaces.