THE management of SM City Bacolod has identified designated smoking areas outside the mall as the nationwide smoking ban was enforced starting July 22.
May Castro, SM City Bacolod public relations manager, on Thursday, July 27, said as soon as the smoking ban took effect, all SM Supermalls complied as directed.
“Before, smokers can just smoke outside, but with smoking ban in place, we have designated smoking areas,” Castro said.
Castro said they have one designated smoking area outside the North Wing near the entrance and another one in the South Wing.
The SM management had already sent a memorandum to its tenants to comply with the smoking ban.
“Eversince, smoking is not allowed inside the mall and there are no violators,” Castro said.
She said all tenants were tasked to inform their security guards to monitor and arrest the smoking ban violators within their area.
On Tuesday, seven passengers were arrested by personnel of Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) for smoking inside jeepneys at the downtown area.
The violators were fined P500 for first offense, and were given citation tickets to pay their fines within 72 hours.
For failure to pay the penalty, violators will be charged for violation of City Ordinance 641, Series of 2013, which regulates smoking in public places, including public conveyances, and advertisements, promotions, and sponsorships of tobacco products.
Councilor Caesar Distrito, co-chairman of Bacolod Anti-Smoking Task Force, said on the Wednesday meeting, the task force approved the two-way approach in dealing with the smoking issue, education and information, and strict implementation, but should be done simultaneously.
They also agreed to create an action team that will focus on the strict implementation of the smoking ordinance, apprehend violators, and inspect establishments for compliance of the anti-smoking ordinance.
Distrito said they also approved that all BTAO enforcers will strictly enforce the anti-smoking ordinance in all public utility vehicles, and all police stations will assist in the implementation.
He said the City Treasurer Office’s will print citation tickets and will formulate in consultation with the Management Information Technology and Computer Services a system of reporting of apprehensions, and the barangays will also be trained in the implementation after the training of the action team.
The City Government assigned a designated smoking area behind the Bacolod Government Center