Stiff penalties pushed vs vendors who sell cigarettes to minors

Stiff penalties await persons who sell cigarettes to kids or induce minors to smoke once the proposed National Tobacco Control Act authored by Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo II is passed into law.

Gunigundo said he devoted an entire chapter on youth smoking prevention in the bill to ensure that cigarettes and other tobacco products would not be accessible to minors, defined in HB 114 as an individual under 18 years of age.

"The Philippines has no national law regulating smoking and the sale of tobacco products. We have no minimum age requirement for those who want to purchase cigarettes, no law whatsoever regulating its advertising and promotions," the solon stressed.

Gunigundo said he wants stiffer penalties for the law’s violators. Under the proposed measure, a penalty of imprisonment ranging from six months to one year and/or a fine ranging from P50,000 to P100,000 shall be imposed upon any person who sells, administers, delivers, or gives away cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors for the purpose of smoking.

The Valenzuela lawmaker also exhorted other tobacco companies to emulate the Youth Smoking Prevention program of Philip Morris Philippines Inc., which seeks to keep cigarettes away from the hands of kids.

Chapter IV of the proposed National Tobacco Control Act will also authorize all school heads, supervisors and teachers to apprehend, arrest, or cause the apprehension or arrest of any minor who shall violate any of the provisions of the poposed law.