Oro dads to hold public consuls on e-cigarettes

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

The 18th City Council’s Committee on Health Sanitation and Health Insurance will be conducting public consultations on the impact of electronic cigarettes on the health of young people in the city.

Committee chairman and City Councilor Maria Lourdes Gaane said there are recommendations to regulate if not totally ban, the sale and use of these devices. She said the consultations will serve as a gauge if electronic cigarettes are a public health issue in the city.

In a press statement, Gaane said the initiative comes on the heels of the issuance of Executive Order No. 26 by President Rodrigo Duterte imposing a nationwide smoking ban in all public places, among others. The order, however, is silent on the issue of electronic cigarettes.

Gaane said to get better perspective of the issue, the Committee would be holding public consultations at public venues in the two (2) congressional districts of the city.

She invited the public to these public consultations at the Limketkai Center, Lapasan on May 27 and at the Carmen Barangay Hall on June 1, both consultations will begin at 1:00 pm.

“Gikinahanglan namo nga motambong ang tanan ilabi na gyud kadtong smokers og nag-gamit sa e-cigarettes,” she added.

She pointed out that Davao City has already regulated e-cigarettes as early as 2012. Its “New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance (No. 0367-12)” prohibits smoking any tobacco product or using electronic device system, shisha, and the like in all public places, among others.