EO banning smoking nationwide to be signed soon
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte may sign an executive order (EO) banning smoking nationwide as early as today.
According to Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial, the EO has gone through necessary reviews by the legal staff of the Executive Secretary, “but when we followed it up with the office, it seems they lost a copy.”
Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said that the revised draft of the EO reached the President’s desk this morning, and that the EO could be signed “soon”.
That “soon” may come as early as today according to Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who was present at the cabinet meeting held yesterday, March 6.
The EO, drafted by the Department of Health, will enforce a 100% ban on smoking in public places, which include parks, bus stations, and vehicles situated along the country’s roads. It is patterned after Davao City’s smoking ban.
Source: Manila Standard, Inquirer.net, ABS-CBN News, Manila Bulletin
