Sunday, July 3, 2011
THE intensified anti-smoking crackdown has netted a total of 365 violators three days after it was re-launched in Metro Manila, authorities said Sunday.
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino said the violators were apprehended by "environmental enforcers" of the agency deployed in various areas in the metropolis and were issued violation tickets. On the first day of the drive last Friday, July 1, the agency said it apprehended 279 smokers. Since they were first-time offenders, they were ordered to pay a fine of P500.
On the second offense, violators will be slapped with P1,000 and for the third offense, violators will be fined with P5,000. Those who cannot afford to pay the fine will be obliged to render eight hours of community service.
About 50 environmental enforcers are deployed in areas where there is huge concentration of people, such as at Monumento-LRT station in Caloocan, near the Farmers Market in Cubao, Quezon City, POEA Robinsons Galleria area, Pasay-Taft Rotunda area, and other areas along Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (Edsa).
The enforcers are deployed in teams composed of two personnel with authority to issue the violation ticket, a photographer to document the arrest and another to help fill out the documents.
Tolentino said they are also assisted by another enforcer whose job is to "spot" and accost the smokers.
The agency said most of the apprehended violators claimed they were not aware of the crackdown or the city anti-smoking ordinance, which prescribes three days' imprisonment for third-time offenders despite the one-month information drive by the authorities, which includes warning those who smoke in public.
The MMDA-local government unit (LGU) partnership in the enforcement of an intensified no-smoking policy within Metro Manila is based on the provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, the country's commitment to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the smoking prohibitions of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and all local ordinances and issuances imposed by local government units.
Under RA 9211, public places are defined as "enclosed or confined areas of all hospitals, medical clinics, schools, public transportation terminals and offices, and buildings such as private and public offices, recreational places, shopping malls, movie houses, hotels, restaurants, and the like."
Earlier, Tolentino said the public places where smoking is banned include public utility vehicles, terminals, jeeps, tricycles, schools, hospitals, bars and restaurants.
However, Tolentino warned that other LGUs are implementing stricter rules.
"The four cities - Caloocan, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong and Navotas, - have stricter rules after they have expanded the definitions of public places to include open spaces in their respective ordinances," said Tolentino.
The intensified drive against smokers also came on the heels of a study by the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (Gats) showing that 17.3 million Filipinos are smokers.
The survey also said that the number of Filipinos exposed to second-hand smoke number around six million.
A 2009 study conducted by the National Statistics Office' Family Income and Expenditure Survey found out that residents of Metro Manila spends a staggering P4 billion on tobacco products annually.
With these grim statistics, calls for chain-smoking President Benigno Aquino III to spearhead the campaign and quit has grown, but the bachelor President rejected it, saying it is one of the ways he relieve stress in his job.