STARTING YOUNG. Reacting to the 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey of the World Health Organization and the Department of Health that one out of five Filipino youths is now smoking, a teacher said that it’s so common to see High School boys smoking cigarettes.
She said, “Bisan sa gawas sa school, makakita ko’g mga bata nga maayo na kaayo moyopyop aning sigarilyo. Bisan unsaon og badlong, dili gyud madutlan.”
EVEN PRE-TEENS. An Ear informer also said he often sees boys smoking. Yesterday afternoon he saw two young boys, ages nine and ten sharing a single stick of cigarette along Colon St.. The ten-year-old boy was the one who bought the cigarette from a vendor nearby and shared it with his nine-year-old cousin.
The informer said he reprimanded the boys but one of the boys told him, “Magbuot ka? Lami man bi.” The informer said, “Ngano easy ra man kaayo makapalit ning mga bataa’g sigarilyo nga naa na man unta tay balaod against ani?”