THE Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force (ICAST) campaign against smoking got an added boost from the Senate after Senate Bill 27 filed by Senator Pia Cayetano was approved on second reading last week.
House Bill 3715 is its counterpart measure filed by Iloilo City lone district Representative Jerry Treñas, seeking to regulate smoking in public and selected private places, as the city races to become a smoke-free city in the country.
ICAST chairman, Councilor Joshua Alim, said the Cayetano measure will cement the local campaign in Iloilo City by showing the dangers of smoking.
The Cayetano bill will feature a graphic picture-based warning on cigarette packs showing the effect of smoking in the human body. The ICAST has been using this anti-smoking strategy since last year.
Alim said the graphic warning on cigarette packs is already being implemented in Thailand and Malaysia, which also ban selling of cigarettes in small number in cafes, restaurants and stores.
Cayetano is expected to put a timeline of the measure for the Department of Health to study the bill.
Both bills, if approved into law, will give 60 days for the cigarette manufacturers to implement, and 120 days after effectivity of the act, cigarettes are no longer be sold anymore in small numbers. (LCP)