THE City of Baguio is among the six winners of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards for Global Tobacco Control.
Baguio was awarded under the Monitoring tobacco use of the MPower measures introduced by the World Health Organization. The measure also includes Protecting people from tobacco smoke, offering others to quit tobacco, Warning about the dangers of tobacco, Enforcing tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship bans, and Raising taxes on tobacco.
The city was recognized for establishing a public-private partnership model for surveillance of tobacco use. Through the City Health Services Office, the City has been conducting the Global Youth Tobacco Survey and Global Adult Tobacco Survey which data were used to implement and evaluate effective tobacco control policies.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong received the award during the 2025 World Conference on Tobacco Control held in Dublin, Ireland on June 24, 2025 (Philippines time).
In his acceptance message, Magalong said the award is an affirmation of the goal of the city in creating a vape-and tobacco-free environment.
“Being a global champion of tobacco control, it is an affirmation that we … make sure that we enforce tobacco control and all its corresponding ordinance and laws to make sure that we will be able to create a vape-free and tobacco-free environment in my city,” Magalong said.
He added that this also affirms their commitment to enforcing the laws in collaboration with the different stakeholders.
“We will continue to enforce the law without fear and favor, without any entitlement, and at the same time, anchored in a strong sound policy, rigorous monitoring, and collaboration with our stakeholders,” the mayor assured.
Other awardees are the Ukraine Committee on Public Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India, Ministry of Health and Wellness of Mauritius, Ministry of Health of Mexico and Salud Justa Mx (joint award), and Ministry of Finance of Montenegro.
The awards celebrate the significant strides governments and non-governmental organizations have made in adopting and implementing best-practice tobacco control policies. (PIA)