Makati Mayor Binay bats for stop-smoking centers

As a Makati resident, we were very proud to read that Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay has taken a positive step to implement the law that mandates the implementation of a National Smoking Cessation Program by requesting that the Department of Health consider the city of Makati as the pilot area for the establishment of these "smoking cessation centers."

This is not the first time that Mayor Biay has shown his great concern for the major health hazard that is smoking. Way back in June 2003, he took steps to minimize smoking in the public places. It is a known fact that second smoke, that is cigarette smoke exhaled by smokers, is more of a health hazard than the smoke directly inhale from cigarettes. This means that non-smokers who inhaled second-hand smoke are in more danger of getting sick than smokers. Mayor Binay took steps to limit the areas in public places where people could smoke.

The World Health Organization has been saying that tobacco-related illnesses will be the leading cause of death in Third World countries by 2020. The Department of Health has figures to show that Filipino smokers are on the rise. Smoking is on the decline in many industrialized countries. So big tobacco firms are concentrating on selling their products in the more backward countries. Southeast Asia has the sad distinction of having the second highest growth rate of smokers. Worst, in Southeast Asia, some cigarettes have been found to have nicotine levels of up to 3.2 milligrams per cigarette or more than twice the maximum amount in most developed countries.

These are statistics showing that 53 percent of male Filipinos and 18 percent of Filipino women smoke. And again, according to statistics, about 20,000 Filipino die annually from diseases that stem from cigarette smoke. Phillip Wilbur, of Washington’s Smoking Control Advocacy Resource Center, denounced R.J. Reynolds for marketing Dakota cigarettes to the "virile female". He said, "When tobacco companies decide they want to sell to a certain segment of the population, what they are deciding is that they want that segment to die at a higher rate."

The Armed Forces has taken some measures against smoking. An order was given to declare all bases, function rooms, work areas, flight lines, aircraft and vehicles as well as hallways as smoke-free zones. "Besides being an unhealthy habit, officers in uniform project a lousy military appearance when a cigarette is stuck in their mouths." Movies, television and the newspapers could help in the anti-smoking campaign if they minimize or discourage projecting people smoking. After all, their smoking is not part of the program. That is their personal affair.

What could really spell the end of the smoking menace is if the families of those people that get sick and die from smoking can sue the companies that produced the cigarettes that caused their fatal illness. It is not enough to have signs that say, "Smoking is not good for your health." The sign should read, "Smoking can be deadly."