Manila City Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. on Sunday urged the government to step up efforts to discourage the youth from taking up “unhealthy habits,” such as smoking and vaping.
Abante noted that the Philippines slipped in the 2023 Tobacco Industry Interference (TII) Index, a tool that uses several indicators to score the level of tobacco industry interference in government tobacco-related policy-making.
Fellow legislators and policymakers should be wary of the attempts of the tobacco industry “to introduce a whole new generation of Filipinos to unhealthy vices, like smoking and vaping,” he warned.
“The country’s score in the [Tobacco Industry Interference] Index is a wake up call for those of us who are committed to protect our youth from the evils of tobacco use,” Abante said.
The TII index showed the Philippines scored 60 in 2023, compared to 59 in 2022 and 58 in 2021.
“The Philippines is a signatory of this convention so we are obligated to adopt measures that educate and inform our countrymen about the perils of tobacco, especially our impressionable youth,” he said.
“We have seen how difficult it is for smokers to kick this habit. That is why it is imperative that the government through agencies like the National Youth Commission, spearhead an aggressive campaign that will discourage our youth from taking up smoking and vaping,” he added.