National Children’s Month: Health Advocates demand stronger vape and tobacco laws to save Filipino children

Public health advocates underscored the urgent need to strengthen and strictly enforce our vape and tobacco control policies and immediately amend Republic Act 11900 or the Vape Regulation Law to mitigate, if not undo, the harm of these products on the health of Filipino children and youth.

HealthJustice Philippines, Child Rights Network (CRN), Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD), and the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), further emphasized that lowering the age of access to vape to as young as 18 years old and maliciously assigning regulatory authority to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) instead of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is unacceptable.

The groups raised the call to the government at a press briefing in Quezon City in time for the celebration of National Children’s Month, with this year’s theme “Break the Prevalence, End the Violence: Protecting Children, Creating a Safe Philippines!”

“Our laws against tobacco and vape-use are poorly enforced and contain loopholes that the tobacco and vape industry actively exploits. Sales of vapes continue to proliferate in the market because the DTI is ineffectively executing their mandate, thus, clearly risking the health and lives of our children. The FDA should be the only legitimate health agency to regulate these harmful products. The prevalence of smoking and vaping among our young people is evidence that stricter policy interventions are necessary,” said Ralph Degollacion, Managing Director of HealthJustice.

To date, the Global Youth Tobacco Survey in 2019 showed students as young as 13 years old already smoking or vaping. One in seven or 14.1% of adolescents aged 13 to 15 use vapes, while one in eight or 12.5% use tobacco products including cigarettes.

“It is heartbreaking to know how school-aged children are now exposed to nicotine addiction, especially from vapes, because of an industry-friendly Vape Regulation Law. This harmful industry prioritizes profits above all by preying on children and young people as their next generation of consumers with marketing strategies and advertisements deliberately appealing to us. Hence, we challenge our policymakers to end the vapedemic. Raise the age of restriction on vapes to 21, ban vape flavors, ban online sales, and transfer the jurisdiction to the FDA,” said Roi Merca, a young leader of CRN. 

CRN, with its convenor, PLCPD, showed support for House Bill No. 10897, filed by Muntinlupa Rep. Jimmy Fresnedi, that proposes to amend R.A. 11900 by raising to 21 years old the minimum age to buy and use vapes, and give FDA the authority to regulate these products.

“Increasing the age of access to vapes can make a huge difference. Additionally, it is just rightful to give FDA the regulatory power considering their scientific expertise,” added Merca. “We already have one confirmed case of e-cigarette or vaping-use-associated lung injury or Evali death which proves that vapes pose a great threat to health. We have an urgent need to amend the Vape Regulation Law to protect our future generation.”

SEATCA Executive Director Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo stated, “The Filipino youth is bombarded daily with misinformation about electronic smoking devices. These devices are dangerous and should not be promoted in any way.”

“These policy gaps are due, in large part, to the corporate influence of the tobacco industry, including lobbying, spreading misinformation, and making donations disguised as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Existing restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship are clearly ineffective and need to be strengthened to prevent the industry from weakening public health policies,” added Dr. Dorotheo.

R.A. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 prohibits smoking in public places, sale of cigarettes to Filipinos under the age of 21, and many forms of advertisements, but allows other promotional activities at points of sale and online. While R.A 11900 or the Vape Regulation Law, enacted in 2022, is weakened by its industry-friendly provisions with age of access to vapes lowered to 18 instead of 21, jurisdiction placed under the DTI rather than the FDA, and no restrictions set for flavors and online sales or ads.

Moreover, a recent study by the Johns Hopkins University Institute of Tobacco Control found more than 5,500 publicly-visible online posts by vape and heated tobacco product companies on social media platforms that use youth-appealing marketing elements like cartoons or depictions of partying, and advertised vape flavors like fruits and sweets. This violates the Vape Regulation Law that prohibits advertising of flavors that appeal to young people.

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Contact persons:

Mariz Amante Wee

Communications Officer, HealthJustice

+63998-885-1080 / +974-669-86655

stelamarieamante@gmail.com

Anelle Cortez

Project Coordinator, HealthJustice

+639178139696

anelledc@gmail.com