Duterte to sign EO on smoking ban nationwide

A man taps ashes off his cigarette into an ashtray filled with cigarette butts. Srdjan Zivulovic, Reuters

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte will sign an executive order Tuesday that will ban smoking in all public places nationwide, Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol said.

In a text message, Piñol said Duterte will use the draft prepared by the Department of Health.

In January, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said Duterte, a long-time mayor of Davao City, had asked her to draft the executive order similar to what the city had been implementing on "100% smoke-free environment in public places."

"The executive order will actually mandate all the agencies of government, including the local government to implement this 100% smoking ban in all public places. It's not just Metro Manila," she said.

“There will be no smoking in public places anymore, whether indoor or outdoor. Parks, bus stations, and even in vehicles. All these are considered public places,” Ubial was quoted as saying.

"It's an order to the executive branch. It's up to the local government units also to draft their, shall we call, ordinances to implement this executive order. It's different from a law," she added.

The EO, Ubial said, is a clear signal to the members of the branch to implement systems and information drives to work together to be able to prevent children, the poor, and the public from smoking in public places. - with a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
SOURCE: http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/06/17/duterte-to-sign-eo-on-smoking-ban-nationwide