“The Vape Bill is a fake news bill, ” ImagineLaw Executive Director lawyer Sophia San Luis said in a statement released on Thursday.
She said the 'controversial measure' which was opposed by the medical and health community, was ratified by the House of Representatives and the Senate in December 2021. It is set to be transmitted to the President for his signature into law.
San Luis said she urged President Rodrigo Duterte to veto the bill since there are no credible studies that back proponents’ claims that vaping products and e-cigarettes are safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes nor are they effective in making smokers quit.
“The Vape Bill is grounded on fake science and fake news,” she said.
The law group also hit proponents’ claims that the Vape Bill will tighten regulations on vape and e-cigarette products.
“They are lying. The Vape Bill, once signed into law, will ease current restrictions on these products. The provisions of the bill clearly favor the interests of the tobacco and vape companies, allowing them to attract even non-smokers and penetrate a younger market in the Philippines,” she said.
The law group said some vape companies are owned by tobacco companies.
The measure seeks to lower the age of access to vape and e-cigarette products from the current 21 years old to 18 years old. It also shifts regulatory powers from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Department of Health (DOH) to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
For his part, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) representative Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo said that while long-term effects of using vape and e-cigarettes are not yet established, many studies already show that these products contain many harmful chemicals, cause serious health harms, promote addiction, and do not reduce smoking prevalence.
“The reality is that many smokers – who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking – become dual users and have a higher risk of relapse to smoking,” he said.
Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) representative Dr. Riz Gonzalez also said that proponents’ claims that the Vape Bill will protect minors are ‘outrageous and dangerous to children’.
“The Vape Bill will harm children and young people because it will give them easy access to these harmful products,” Gonzalez clarified. “It will also allow flavorings, even those that entice young non-smokers to try these products,” she said.
Gonzales said she noted that current regulations restrict flavors to tobacco and menthol while the Vape Bill allows most flavors and only ambiguously restricts those with ‘flavor descriptors’ that are ‘proven to unduly appeal’ to youth.
“Vape Bill solons are endangering children’s health through disinformation,” she said. “The President should veto this measure because it is harmful to public health and because we cannot have a law that is based on fake science and disinformation,” she said.
Image from ImagineLaw