Making a vice go up in smoke

Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Pia Cayetano are bent on putting picture-based health warning signs on tobacco products. I wonder if this supposed “deterrent” to smoking will affect our “Man of Steel” in Malacanang who often has coughing fits. Oh well, maybe, to affect the members of The Great Unwashed who continue to smoke, how about printing a picture of a coughing President Benigno Simeon (BS) Aquino 3rd  on cigarette packs? This might convince them that tobacco is no respecter of social and economic status.

It’s been more than a year since Congress passed the law increasing the tax on tobacco products. So far, there has been no study to show if the higher price of cigarettes has caused smokers to consume fewer sticks. In my barangay in Lupao, Nueva Ecija, farmers and even students without any visible source of income still continue to smoke. This reminds me of a previous study by the Department of Health (DOH) that found there were more smokers among the less privileged than among the rich and famous. Maybe, this is because there are more poor people despite the vow to end corruption. The DOH said that the Philippines had 17.3-million smokers with the largest segments coming from the youth and the poor.