By Edwin Espejo – Asian Correspondent
General
Santos City officials are not worried being accused of being copycats of
neighboring Davao City.
“It
is for the good of our constituents,” Mayor Ronnel Rivera said during the
launching of a new city ordinance that put more teeth on a 23-year old city law
that bans smoking in public places.
The
new city ordinance now bans smoking in enclosed public buildings or those that
are privately owned but used, rented or occupied by government offices and
agencies or any of its instrumentalities and in any workplaces, whether public
or privately-owned.
It
repealed the City Crdinance No. 9 series of 1992) or the 1992 Anti-Smoking
Ordinance passed by the City Council.
The
new smoking ban also is in effect in public outdoor spaces where a crowd of
people gather or congregate regardless of ownership.
This
includes covered outdoor spaces, parks, playgrounds, sports grounds, or
centers, gaming areas, cock fighting areas, healthcare/hospital compounds,
memorial parks, memorial gardens, beaches, resorts, pools, market streets,
sidewalks, parking areas, walkways, entrance ways, waiting areas, stairwells,
and the like.
Councilor
Rosalita Nuñez, principal author of the ordinance, said the local legislation
carries with it fines and imprisonment or both for violators.
Also
covered by the ban are government-owned vehicles and public transport.
The
new anti-smoking ordinance also makes permitting, abetting, tolerating or
knowingly allowing smoking in the restricted areas unlawful and violators will
likewise be penalized for it.
It
will also be unlawful to obstruct or refuse the entry of any member of the
Anti-Smoking Task Force or its duly deputized enforcers into places covered by
the ordinance.
Mayor
Rivera said the ban is good for the health of residents here especially when told
that smokers hooked up on cigarettes are getting younger.
He
also cited statistics pointing to 10 Filipinos dying every hour due to
cigarette smoking.
Rivera
himself is a heavy smoker but quit five months ago on the advice of
his doctors.
Another
former heavy smoker, Councilor Franklin Gacal Jr, said he will introduce
another ordinance banning the retail sale of cigarettes by the stick or packs
in the city.
“There
are no graphic warnings in cigarettes sticks and packs which is a violation of
the Philippine Clean Air Act,” he said.
Gacal
is hoping his proposed ordinance will make it more difficult to sell cigarettes
in the city.
Gacal,
one of the trusted lawyers of former eight-division world boxing champion and
Rep. Manny Pacquiao, suffered from a massive stroke two years ago but
survived his life-threatening ordeal.
He
said he has quit smoking since then.
The
city is hoping to follow the lead of Davao City which has been clamping down on
smokers for over two decades.
Prominent
personalities have been arrested, including government officials who recently
attended the convention of the Philippine Councilors League in Davao City.
Like
Rivera, Davao City Rodrigo Duterte was a former heavy smoker.
But
his no-nonsense drive to rid public spaces and establishments of smokers has
earned the city raves for successfully implementing the smoking ban in the
city.
Aside
from a ban on smoking, Davao City is also strictly implementing a ban on
firecrackers and pyrotechnics and imposing a city wide speed limit.
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