Bill banning vaping filed at House

The bill seeks to ban smoking and vaping in public places. It also prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products and vaping devices to minors. (Shutterstock photo)

MANILA— A lawmaker at the House of Representatives on Wednesday filed a bill regulating the use and sale of vaping devices or electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).

Biñan City Rep. Marlyn Alonte filed House Bill 5561, or the proposed Tobacco and Vaping Regulation Act, which proposes to include vaping in the same category as tobacco products and apply the same strict regulations.

The bill seeks to ban smoking and vaping in public places. It also prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products and vaping devices to minors.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered the total ban on the use of vaping devices or e-cigarettes in public, as well as the importation of such devices.

“There is mounting evidence of the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes on public health and safety ranging from lung injury from the liquid nicotine and chemicals to bone fractures and burns from exploding vaping devices. Congress must step forward to protect the people,” Alonte said.

“High excise taxes are not enough to effectively counter this new health menace. The same strict regulations applied to smoking must be applied to vaping,” she added.

Alonte said the vaping fumes are as dangerous as the smoke from cigarettes, considering that vaporized nicotine is still nicotine.

“Other vaporized chemicals, whether organic or not, remain harmful especially if inhaled directly into our lungs directly or from vaping of someone with you in the same enclosed room or just some feet away,” Alonte said.

“This bill is necessary to protect both the young and adults who have become addicted to the chemicals vaporized with the use of electronic device systems,” Alonte said.

She said the bill covers electronic devices that vaporize nicotine and any other chemicals.

Duterte issued the directive, following the first reported case of an illness related to vaping in the country.

The Department of Health (DOH) on November 15 confirmed that a 16-year-old girl from Central Visayas who has been using e-cigarettes for six months is allegedly suffering from an electronic cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI).

The girl, who allegedly complained of “sudden-onset severe shortness of breath,” met the case criteria of EVALI upon evaluation, based on the guidelines of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaping devices, which vaporize a solution that users inhale, do not use tobacco leaves, unlike regular cigarettes.

E-cigarette became popular among Filipinos who assume that it was a healthier alternative for puffers who want to quit smoking.