Photo from Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo’s Facabook page

The Iloilo Provincial Capitol has launched the Barangay Kapitolyo Smoke-Free Campaign to promote a tobacco-free workplace.

“President Rodrigo Duterte wants a smoke-free country and we should start here at the provincial level,” Maretic Huervana, non-communicable diseases program cluster head of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said in an interview.

The program launch, which was held at the Capitol lobby on Monday, Sept. 9, was highlighted with the signing of commitment led by Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., mayors, provincial board members, all department heads, and officers of the Association of Iloilo Provincial Government Employees, among others.

In July 2019, Defensor issued an executive order directing the strict implementation of Iloilo Provincial Ordinance 2016-127 to all provincial government facilities.

The ordinance prohibits and penalizes the use, sale, distribution, and advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products in certain places of the province.

Huervana said there are still some capitol employees who smoke in hidden places. “We conducted orientation and raised awareness (of ill effects of tobacco) among Capitol employees. Before there are many employees that smoke here but the number reduced. There are some who smoke but not in open spaces,” he said.

With the launch of the campaign, the Iloilo Capitol will strictly enforce the no-smoking policy, and will not place designated areas for smoking.

“If they want to smoke, they may go home and smoke there,” she said.

Whoever will be caught smoking at the Capitol premises will be brought at the smoking cessation clinic for counseling. Violators can also be subject to the standard disciplinary sanctions under the rules of the Civil Service Commission.

The move of the Capitol for a smoke-free workplace is eyed to be replicated at the local government units in the province. “We want to become the model of the no-smoking policy,” she said.

The smoke-free Capitol, above all, promotes a healthy lifestyle among the government employees.

Smoking takes seven million of the population per year, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows. Of the total deaths, 890,000 were due to exposure to second-hand smoke.

“If we noticed in our health stations, most of the patients, especially senior citizens, seek medical attention due to asthma and cough caused by smoking,” Huervana said.PNA