Photo Release

It is not our job to legislate science: Sen. Pia Cayetano calls for the continued regulation of e-cigarettes to ensure that the most vulnerable, particularly the youth, will not have access to vapor products and that those who wanted to stop smoking will be the ones targeted by the product. During Monday’s hybrid plenary deliberation December 6, 2021 on Senate Bill No. 2239 or An Act Regulating the Importation, Manufacture, Sale, Packaging, Distribution, Use and Communication of Vapor Products and Heated Tobacco Products, Cayetano asked Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto whether the bill intends to change the current regulation of e-cigarettes under the Sin Tax Law and whether the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should have a say on the regulation of e-cigarettes. Cayetano contends she’ll be the first to support e-cigarettes as a harm reduction product if there is evidence that says so, saying she takes her research seriously. “My position has always been, as legislator, 'it is not our job to legislate science.' We are not experts and that’s why I am a firm believer that science shouldn’t be legislated.” Recto, in response, pointed out that e-cigarettes are not health products but a consumer product, and therefore, the Department of Trade and Industry has the capacity, capability, and technical know-how to regulate it safely. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)