Manila smoking ban starts Monday

MANILA, Philippines - The 17 local government units in Metro Manila will be apprehending people smoking cigarettes in major and secondary roads starting Monday, May 30, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) today said.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said a team, composed of agency personnel and local health officers and policemen, will be strictly implementing the provisions of the Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, and anti-smoking prohibitions of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and all local ordinances.

Tolentino said violators will be slapped with a P500 fine or render an eight-hour community service.

The stringent enforcement of a no-smoking policy within Metro Manila coincides with the observance of the 100 percent smoke-free environment campaign on Monday and the World No Tobacco Day celebration on June 1, 2011.

In mid-June last year, the MMDA intensified its no-smoking campaign within its premises as required by a Civil Service Commission (CSC) directive ordering a total smoking ban in all government offices.

“We must be very strict in implementing our anti-smoking regulation. We want the MMDA to become a model government agency in terms of compliance with the CSC policy,” Tolentino said.

The New York-based Bloomberg Philantrophies has approved a P9.5 million grant to the MMDA to finance the anti-tobacco use program.

Source: http://www.philstar.com

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