STATEMENT OF SENATOR PIA S. CAYETANO ON WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY

I join fellow advocates and the global community in commemorating World No Tobacco Day, an annual reminder of our collective vision to protect the public, especially our youth, from the dangers of tobacco products.

This year's theme, "Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products," directly calls out the industry's slimy tactics - from using colorful packaging and flavors to making misleading health claims - all designed to lure young people while hiding the harsh realities of addiction and disease. It's the same deceptive playbook they once used to hook people on smoking, now repurposed to get a new generation addicted to vaping.

But the reality is clear: vapes and heated tobacco products (HTPs) are not "safer" alternatives. In fact, studies show that these novel sin products are just as harmful and addictive as traditional cigarettes, if not more so. The rise of vaping-related illnesses like EVALI and popcorn lungs confirms this alarming trend. Additionally, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute's 2023 National Nutrition Survey revealed that adolescent vaping rates in the Philippines rose from 3.2% in 2018-2019 to 39.9% in 2023. These are all direct results of the tobacco industry prioritizing profit over lives.

As a longtime advocate for health and tobacco control, I have spent over a decade pushing for stronger measures to protect Filipinos from the harms of tobacco and vape products, including the Graphic Health Warning Law and the Sin Tax Laws of 2012 and 2020. But we have also seen setbacks. The Vape Law, for instance, reversed key protective provisions we fought so hard for under the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2020 - safeguards that were meant to discourage youth vaping. More recently, a new bill was filed, seeking to reduce the annual excise tax increases on traditional tobacco, vapes, and HTPs - a move that I strongly oppose.

Despite these challenges, my commitment to public health remains unwavering. I have filed bills to reinstate the protective measures provided in our Sin Tax Law, enforce stricter regulations on vape & HTP marketing and sales, and raise the age of access to tobacco products to 21. We owe it to the next generation to guard them against an industry that seeks to profit at the expense of their health and safety.

Together, let's build a tobacco- and vape-free Philippines.