Health group : SC ruling a victory for public health and the youth vs ills of tobacco
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October 24, 2024
Tobacco control and public health advocacy group, HealthJustice Philippines, strongly condemned the actions by US-based e-cigarette company, Juul Labs, for interfering in policymaking and actively lobbying against e-cigarette or vape regulations that ultimately resulted to an industry-friendly Republic Act 11900 or the Vape Regulation Law.
HealthJustice expressed alarm, but is not surprised, over the devious and deliberate strategies by Juul Labs since they had launched their company in the Philippines, engaged with legislators, forged partnerships with stakeholders, and gathered media support from 2018 to mid-2022, right at the same period when Congress debated on the bills to regulate vape. The recently published report by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) exposed Juul Labs’ dirty tactics in the Philippines contained in 4,480 out of 4 million internal documents made public as prompted by a US government lawsuit.
“When the vape and tobacco industry meddle into policymaking and peddle their addictive products to the youth, they sabotage public health and our children’s lives. We must counteract the deceptions because vapes can kill and are not a healthier alternative. Our Department of Health has already confirmed one death caused mainly by vaping. Let us not allow this number to spike,” said Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, former Health Secretary and current Board Member of HealthJustice.
Moreover, SEATCA’s report revealed that Juul Labs actively recruited harm-reduction advocates, medical professionals, and public relations consultants to paint a positive image of vapes as less harmful to health. As a marketing strategy, they had planned the launch of low-cost products at an affordable price of $1 per pack to encourage purchases.
“The report by SEATCA is a validation that vape companies operate using the same playbook as tobacco companies. They actively interfere in the policy development process and water-down regulatory measures to protect their profits. It is high time that our policymakers act and amend R.A. 11900. Ban vape flavors, raise the age of access from 18 to 21, and turn over the regulatory mandate to the Food and Drug Administration,” said Mary Ann F. Mendoza, former Civil Service Commissioner and current President of HealthJustice.
Meanwhile, SEATCA echoed the call to impose more stringent regulations against vapes and urged the Philippine government to have tobacco industry lobbyists duly registered.
“This Juul case study clearly illustrates how the tobacco industry navigates and manipulates regulatory environments to advance its business interests. The government has a constitutional duty to protect public health against the tobacco industry’s commercial interests. Government officials should have applied the Civil Service Commission-Department of Health Joint Memorandum Circular 2010-01 and limited their interactions with Juul and its representatives to only when strictly necessary for the purposes of effective regulation,” said Dr Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA.
“SEATCA supports the call for stricter regulation of electronic smoking devices (ESDs) by amending RA 11900 and also calls for the registration of tobacco industry lobbyists and a ban on all social and political contributions from the tobacco industry in accordance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the Philippine Supreme Court has recognized as part of the law of the land,” Dorotheo added.
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Contact persons :
Mariz Amante Wee
Communications Officer, HealthJustice
Anelle Cortez
Project Coordinator, HealthJustice
+639178139696
