Learners, teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) as well as other interested persons or groups were invited to join the 2022 Global Media Competition (GMC) organized by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC).
The competition invites participants nationwide to create compelling social media graphics or short videos exposing the tobacco companies' dirty tactics in disguising the harmful effects of their products on the environment.
The GMC was coordinated in the Philippines by the civil society organization HealthJustice Philippines. The winners can take as much as $4,000.00, DepEd said.
The theme of this year's GMC is Disaster in Disguise: Tobacco Companies' Environmental Harms, consistent with the theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) on May 31, 2022, spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Citing the WHO's webpage for the WNTD, "the harmful impact of the tobacco industry on the environment is vast and growing, adding unnecessary pressure to our planet's already scarce resources and fragile ecosystems. Tobacco kills over 8 million people every year and destroys our environment, further harming human health through the cultivation, production, distribution, consumption, and post-consumer waste." DepEd said that the GMC is in support of its comprehensive tobacco control policy.
Based on DepEd Order No. 48, s. 2016 or the Policy and Guidelines on Comprehensive Tobacco Control, DepEd shall undertake awareness activities to warn against smoking and counter efforts of the tobacco industry to downplay or deny the harmful nature of tobacco products.
The deadline for the submission of entries for the GMC is on Tuesday, May 31.
Additional details about the GMC may be accessed at https://ggtc.world/actions/global-media-competition.