PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order to ban the use of vaping products will lead to increased consumption of tobacco, vaping stakeholders said.

Speaking with BusinessWorld, The Vapers PH said that Mr. Duterte should reconsider his ban on the use and importation of vapes and e-cigarettes as it considers these products to be alternatives for tobacco smokers. The organization is calling instead for more reasonable regulation of these products akin to the practice of countries like the UK.

“We hope that the President listens to the available science and instead supports a strict yet reasonable regulation of e-cigarettes. The only people who will benefit from a complete ban are the cigarette manufacturers who will have a bigger market once we crack down on e-cigarette use,” The Vapers PH President Mark Czerwin Erana told BusinessWorld in an e-mail Wednesday.

“If we are turned into criminals for continuing to vape, then we will be forced to return to smoking and that is a product that will surely kill the members of our community.”

Mr. Duterte unexpectedly announced Tuesday night that he will issue an Executive Order (EO) that will ban the use and import of vapes and e-cigarettes. He added that he will also ask legislators to pass a law calling for the arrest of those who smoke these products in public.

Smoking vapes and e-cigarettes in public and enclosed areas is prohibited by Administrative Order 2019-0007 issued by the Department of Health (DoH) in June. The AO governs the use, sale, import, manufacture, and distribution of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) devices. It is currently suspended due to injunctions issued by two regional trial courts.

The President’s ban follows the first case of E-cigarette or Vape-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) in the Philippines reported last week by the DoH.

Mr. Erana said that this case “is not confirmed from e-cigarette use” as the patient was reportedly a “dual user” of traditional cigarettes as well. The patient’s dual use was also reported by the DoH when the case first surfaced.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque said Wednesday during a radio interview with GMA News TV that he supports the ban on ENDS/ENNDS devices. The DoH has long pressed for a total ban of these products, if not strict regulation and high taxation, and has come out strongly against marketing the products to minors.

Mr. Duque said that the EVALI case is still not confirmed to be directly linked to the usage of ENDS/ENNDS and the department is currently studying it, saying in the same radio interview: “Sa ngayon, ang kanyang category ay probable case of vaping associated lung injury (Right now we are classifying it as a probable case of vaping-associated lung injury).”

Health Undersecretary Rolando Enrique D. Domingo said that the EO is currently being finalized, as per his conversations with the Office of the President.

“Ang pagkaintintindi ko kahapon from the Office of the President, nasa legal team na ng president for finalization ng EO (My understanding is that yesterday the Office of the President informed me that it is already with his legal team for finalization),” he said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday. — Gillian M. Cortez

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