Manila bans smoking

The Mayor of Manila, Joseph Estrada, today implemented a public-places tobacco

smoking ban in the Philippines’ capital, according to a story on ABS-CBN News.

The ban, brought in through City Ordinance 7748, is said to emulate one implemented in Davao City where President Rodrigo Duterte was mayor for 22 years.

Before his rise to the presidency, Duterte imposed on Davao City an anti-smoking ordinance that included provision for penalties of up to P5,000 in fines or four months in prison for those violating the ordinance.

At the Manila town hall, located in the Ermita district, smoking will be allowed only at two gates, and violators of the ordinance will be arrested by city hall employees.

Estrada was a long-time smoker but quit after he was hospitalized in December by asthma attacks.

An executive order on a nationwide smoking ban is awaiting Duterte’s signature.

About a third of the Philippines’ adult population smokes, which is the second highest smoking incidence in the region after Indonesia, according to a 2014 report by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.