“Dirty Ashtray” smears Philippines’ good reputation in public health

Manila, Philippines – The international community expressed profound concern over the Philippines’ regression in tobacco control efforts over the years when the Department of Health was not made head of the delegation to the WHO’s global tobacco control conference.

Speaking as a member of the international community, Dr. Mary Assunta Kolandai, Head of Research and Advocacy for the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), underscored that the failure to allow the Health Department lead the country at the 10th session of the Conference of Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) was a departure from its once-revered position as a champion for tobacco control. Notably, the Philippines has been recognized in the past, globally and at country-level, to uphold landmark measures that implement Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC designed to shield public health policies from tobacco industry influence.

Dr. Assunta addressed the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing which reconvened to investigate the “Dirty Ashtray” award bestowed upon the Philippine delegation who participated in the COP10 for conveying support for the tobacco industry.

Meantime, Blue Ribbon Committee Chairperson, Senator Pia Cayetano, in a bold statement, urged the Secretary of Health, Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, to aspire for awards of excellence and not tolerate the “Dirty Ashtray” while emphasizing the imperative to prioritize public health over industry interests.

Public health advocacy group, HealthJustice, echoed Cayetano’s appeal to government officials in line with their campaign to end the vapedemic among young Filipinos.

“We agree with Senator Pia Cayetano that we, as a country, should aspire to become a health champion. One step towards achieving this is to ensure that the head of delegation in the next FCTC COP is our Department of Health. We also need to urgently address the proliferation of vape products that are poisoning our children. This can be done by restricting online sales and removing flavors, which are the primary reasons why our youth are getting addicted to vape products,” said Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former Health Secretary and Board Member of HealthJustice.

In addition, Dr. Assunta, main author of the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index (GTI), also noted the continued proliferation of the red and white Marlboro chevron prominently painted over stores that influence children, and hinted that these were from a company that claimed to be advocating for a smoke-free world. Therefore, she emphasized the urgent need for the Philippine government to realign its priorities and practices with those of the international community, particularly in preparation for COP11 in 2025. At the same time, she urged officials to reaffirm their commitment to safeguard public health and welfare of children and youth.

As the Philippines confronts the challenges posed by tobacco industry interference including the law that loosely regulates vape products, Dr. Assunta further suggested that the best practice to protect children is to ban vape products entirely—a measure currently adopted by 5 of 10 ASEAN countries. She then slammed the “balanced approach” argued by the Philippine delegates because the health harms outweigh any possible benefit from tobacco.

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