Brother of running priest sues tobacco company

The brother of running priest Fr. Robert Reyes filed a case yesterday against Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc., blaming the company for enticing him to use cigarettes that caused him to develop lung cancer.

As part of yesterday’s celebration of "World No Tobacco Day," health officials said the government is advocating a ban on tobacco use and on tobacco companies’ sponsorship of the Southeast Asian Games that the Philippines is hosting next year.

Vincent Reyes, 47, said in the complaint he filed with the Makati City prosecutor’s office that he started smoking Philip Morris cigarettes when he was 14 years old and stopped only in 2000, when he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

"Through television advertisements, radio and print media, the company has succeeded in enticing me and countless others to patronize the said tobacco product," he said in his 4-page affidavit.

Reyes said these cigarettes inflicted irreparable damage to his health and physical well-being and has asked for P500,000 in moral damages, and P100 each for actual damages and attorney’s fees.

His lawyer, Bienvenido Salinas, said they were supposed to demand only P100 in moral damages but the Makati City prosecutor asked them to increase their demand so "our case won’t be ignored and downplayed."

Fr. Robert Reyes said if they only ask for P100 in moral damages, Philip Morris can simply pay them off and not take them seriously.

"My brother was so affected. He was unable to continue his normal and productive life because of this sunset industry," he said, adding that he never tires of warning smokers of the possible consequences of their habit.

The priest also said he does not understand why this "sunset industry" is still around when the entire world is aware that smoking tobacco products has no health benefits.

"I suffer with brother and I join him in his struggle for life, health, strength, faith, hope and meaning," he said in a statement.

Fr. Reyes noted that it has been more than five years since a similar case was filed against Philip Morris by then Cagayan de Oro congressman Homobono Adaza, but this was later dismissed.

The cancer-stricken Reyes and his family have spent more than P2 million for his medication, even as it had been supplemented with free medicine from an experimental program.

According to the Philippine Cancer Society (PCS), smoking kills 20,000 Filipinos annually. Cigarette smoking is the main cause of about 90 percent of lung cancer cases in men and about 70 percent of them in women.

PCS has been urging the government to ratify the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which imposes higher pricing and taxation on tobacco products and for the public to be protected from exposure to tobacco smoke.

A jury in New Orleans decided last week that Philip Morris USA and other cigarette makers in the United States must pay nearly $591 million to fund quit-smoking programs in Louisiana.

‘Tobacco-free’ Asian Games

Dr. Ivanhoe Escartin, who heads the Department of Health (DOH) Health Program and Promotion, said a "tobacco-free" SEA Games is "ambitious," but the people involved in this program have studied the mechanics to ensure its "maximum implementation."

He said the program aims to beef up the country’s campaign against cigarette-smoking, as outlined in the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9211). Last Sunday, the DOH, PCS, and the Philippine Sports Commission signed a manifesto of support for the program.

Escartin added that health and sports officials are set to sign a memorandum of agreement on June 10 to formalize the program. However, he said the PSC will handle how the program will be implemented among the foreign delegates. — With Shiela Crisostomo