A “death clock” was set up at the Lawton grounds in the city of Manila yesterday to remind smokers that a lot of Filipinos are dying of tobacco-related diseases everyday.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim led the launching of the “death clock” program together with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and officials from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Alliance Philippines.
The launching was held beside the Park and Ride terminal in Plaza Lawton.
“Don’t smoke. Smoking is a silent poison that can lead to slow death,” Lim said in his speech during the launching.
The electronic billboards, which show the ill effects of cigarettes on a person, will be placed at Lawton near City Hall; Mercury Drug in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo; UST, Sampaloc; and in EDSA Guadalupe, Makati City and La Salle Greenhills in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City.
The billboards will also be displayed in Cebu City; Davao City; Legazpi City; Sorsogon City; San Jose, Oriental Mindoro; Santiago, Isabela; Baguio City; Cabadbaran City; Iriga City; Umingan, Pangasinan; Talisayan, Misamis Oriental and other cities all over the country.
The death clock will be updated daily and will be flashed on the billboard every three minutes. This strategy is being done in Thailand where the picture-based cigarette packs, ironically, are manufactured in the Philippines.
The installation of the death clock was the initiative of the FCAP and the Department of Health. They recommended this to Mayor Lim who readily agreed to the use of the giant electronic billboard located in Plaza Lawton beside the Metropolitan Theater.
Dr. Encarnita Limpin, president of the FCAP, said the death clock was also intended to serve as a reminder for congressmen and senators to act immediately on pending bills that seek to print photographs on cigarette packs.
“As they delay the passage of these bills, more and more Filipinos die of various illnesses related to cigarettes. Through this death clock, we hope that they realize the urgency of these bills,” she told The STAR. – Sheila Crisostomo, Sandy Araneta