COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Three agencies of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao received the Red Orchid Award for having “tobacco-free” offices.
Joery Delumpia Amad, assistant coordinator for the tobacco prevention and control program of the ARMM’s Department of Health, on Monday said the three regional agencies, the Department of Education, the Department of Science and Technology and the Regional Planning and Development Office, are now all 100-percent tobacco-free offices.
“That means nobody smokes inside these three offices anymore,” Delumpia said.
The three ARMM agencies were conferred the Red Orchid Award early this week by the region’s health department.
John Magno, regional education secretary of the Department of Health in the autonomous region, said he is thankful to his subordinates for adhering to a no-smoking policy in their office. Magno is himself a non-smoker.
“It’s not difficult to achieve that because our regional chief executive, Governor Mujiv Hataman, is a non-smoker,” Magno told The STAR Monday.
The grant of the Red Orchid Award caps off the DOH’s annual search for a 100-percent tobacco-free government offices, hospitals and municipal halls of local government units.
To qualify for the award, interested government offices need to request for a screening by the DOH, which will facilitate the validation of “tobacco-free environment” claims of applicants.
Recipients of the Red Orchid Award will receive trophies and certificates of recognition as “tobacco-free” offices from the DOH.
Agencies to receive the same award for three consecutive years shall have a P500,000 cash bonus, which can be spent for various anti-smoking programs.