Iloilo City enters 2014 Red Orchid nat'l finals

CEBU, Philippines - Iloilo City passed the regional validation for a smoke-free LGU and was included in the national validation for the 2014 Red Orchid Award.

The Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force (ICAST) was confident to win the national award again after its successive wins over the past two years.

ICAST director Iñigo Garingalao said they deserved to be included on the national finals due to its campaign against illegal smoking and strict enforcing of the City's Regulation Ordinance 2006-150 (Comprehensive Anti Smoking Ordinance of Iloilo City).

The Iloilo City government has created ICAST to regulate smoking in the city after data showed that 54 percent of caught violators were minors. "We cannot fully eradicate smoking because there is no such law banning the smoking in the city. The current ordinance we have is just a matter of regulation", he said.

Iloilo City has been an awardee of Red Orchid Award on the very first time they joined the regional and national validation in 2012 as part of the World No Tobacco Day. Awardees are being awarded for their health facilities and implementation of anti-smoking programs in their communities.  (FREEMAN)