FILE PHOTO. Despite President Rodrigo Duterte's recent orders against vape, House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chair Robert Ace Barbers urges the administration to instead regulate its manufacturing, sale, and use nationwide.The Duterte administration should reconsider its approach in banning the use of e-cigarettes and vape devices nationwide, as this could still trigger purchase in the black market, a lawmaker warned Friday.
House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chair Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte 2nd District raised the point that harm reduction efforts of vape use would be more effective if it would be regulated, instead of implementing a total ban in the country. “Naniniwala ako na yung pagpasok ng vaping sa bansa ay inevitable, papasok at papasok yan. Since inevitable...’yung sistema, bakit di natin tingnan yung rutang iyon? Dapat meron tayong regulasyon,[Translation: I believe that the entry of vapes in the country is inevitable, it will enter no matter what. And since that system is inevitable, why don’t we look into that route instead? We should have regulation.]Tingnan natin paano ita-tax, sino yung dapat bumili, saan dapat bibili.
The lawmaker stressed that if vape can still be proven less harmful than tobacco, Filipino users can still weigh their options.Ten House members in the 18th Congress, including Barbers, have filed a measure seeking to regulate the sale, distribution, and manufacture of e-cigarettes and similar devices to instill health consciousness among Filipino smokers.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda of Albay 2nd District also recently clarified that vape products will still be included in the sin tax measure and will even be taxed higher to make them “more prohibitive.”On Tuesday, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Philippine National Police to start its crackdown on vaping devices due to health hazards.