Cebu City starts strict implementation of anti-smoking ordinance in December

Smoking in public will soon be a no-no because the city government will strictly enforce an ordinance prohibiting such starting next month.

The Cebu City Environment Sanitation Enforcement Team or Ceset is going to deploy over 1,000 deputized volunteers to assist police and barangay tanods in going after violators of City Ordinance No. 1895 in line with the city's thrust to make the city a smoke-free and environment friendly city.

C.O. 1895 prohibits smoking cigar, pipe and other tobacco products in non-smoking or smoke-free establishments such as commercial establishments, entertainment centers, educational and learning centers, religious and places of worship, government and public offices, vanity, fitness, health and medical centers and other areas or zones whether publicly or privately owned, which are especially designated as non-smoking zones by the management or by the city.

Section 4 of the ordinance also mandates non-smoking establishments to designate a smoking zone within its confines and provide exhaust or smoke ventilators and cigarette butt receptacles.

Under the ordinance, smoking is prohibited within the areas of gasoline stations, oil and gasoline refinery warehouses dealing with highly combustible and flammable materials, and similar areas susceptible to fire.

Individual smokers violating any provision of the said ordinance will have to pay a fine of P100 fine for the first offense and P200 for second offense.

For succeeding offenses, a P500 fine shall be imposed coupled with the filing of criminal and administrative cases. Should a violator be convicted of the said offense, he/she shall face imprisonment for not less than 30 days.

Establishments that do not comply with the provisions of the ordinance, on the other hand, will pay a P500 fine for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense and P5,000 for the succeeding offenses with revocation of business permits and/sanitary permits, as well as a lawsuit by the city government.

The Ceset volunteers have been tapped for the strict implementation of the No Smoking ordinance following their success in the implementation of a city ordinance on Solid Waste Management, which provides a "no segregation, no collection" policy. This means that garbage that has not been segregated according to specifications of the ordinance will not be collected by the city's garbage trucks. - Cristina C. Birondo