Transcript of interview with Sen. Pia S. Cayetano Chairperson,
Senate Committee on Health and Demography Hearing on proposed amendments to RA 9211 or the "Tobacco Regulation Act"

Q: Please give us an overview of the law's implementation

SPSC: The implementation has been disappointing for a number of reasons. There have been documented violations and circumventions of the law on advertising (of cigarette products). The law allows "point of sale" advertisements. But what happens is that they turn an entire store, for instance, into a one big advertisement tool.

The hearing was able to establish that number one, there have been clear circumventions of the law, and number two, while there's an international convention on tobacco control (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization) to which the Philippines is a signatory, our tobacco regulation law only requires printed health warning and not graphic warnings as required by the FCTC.

One problem with this is that cigarette companies in the Philippines actually export to Thailand cigarette packs that include graphic warnings, but in our own country, they have strongly resisted the law requiring just printed health warnings.

Because of the advertising ban, marami ngayon na tinatawag na "below the line" advertising like sponsorship of events. Ang concern natin is below the line advertising. Kasi parang lumalabas na wala nga silang ads, but they sponsor concerts and sports events which would send a subtle but contradictory message that ties up smoking to sports events, and therefore smoking constitutes a healthy lifestyle.

Also, there are still a lot of establishments that do not follow the "no smoking rule" (in enclosed places and public places). We obviously still need a stronger campaign for that.

Q: What amendments are you looking at?

SPSC: One is requiring graphic images in cigarette packaging. Another is the exclusion of the tobacco industry representative from the Inter Agency Committee that oversees the implementation of RA 9211. The IAC is basically empowered to implement this law. Ganoon sila ka-powerful. But you also have the tobacco industry as one of the members of the committee.

When you look in other oversight committees, like that on the Milk Code or EO 51 which regulates infant formula, hindi naman kasama doon ang milk companies. So bakit dito meron? Another is that this committee is headed by the representative of the Department of Trade and Insutry (DTI). Pero bakit? The primary thrust of this law is health, and so the committee should be headed by the Department of Health.