PMA to non-smokers: Stand up for right to clean air

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) urged yesterday all non-smokers to stand up against cigarettes, saying they should learn to fight for their right to breathe “clean and smoke-free air.”

“Non-smokers across the country should be aware of, and at the same time must exercise, their right to breathe clean air in their surroundings. Tobacco smoke kills. Equally, secondhand and thirdhand smoke absolutely kills people,” PMA president Dr. Oscar Tinio said.

The PMA will lead a “people empowerment rally” in Quezon City Saturday.

“If smokers, despite their knowledge about the clear and present danger to life of tobacco smoking, continue to insists on their supposedly ‘right’ to indulge in their useless addiction then more so that the non-smokers should stand up against the killing effects of secondhand and thirdhand smoke and their constitutional right to life,” Tinio said.

He said non-smokers should “politely confront the smoker and ask him directly not to endanger needlessly the life of the non-smoker.”

Tinio said that smoking in public places violates Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 and is a major threat to the life of the unprotected non-smoker.

“We, the non-smokers of the Philippines, should not only rely on law enforcers to effectively implement the anti-smoking law in pubic places. We should stand up and take action by insisting on our basic right not to be exposed to this poison that is uselessly being propagated by smoking addicts in public places,” he said.

The PMA is calling for a “people power-like initiative” against tobacco smoking, especially in public places, to protect the children against “the killing effects of this vile and deadly addiction.”

He said smokers are only a “stubborn minority” threatening the lives of the “silent majority.”

“It is time for us to break our silence and to let these smokers know in a very loud voice that they should respect our collective right for a healthy life,” he said.