An eight-month campaign rallying for smoke-free beaches, parks, and tourist destinations in Boracay Island and Aklan was launched on Tuesday, May 31, coinciding with the celebration of World No Tobacco Day.
Such was launched by the Department of Health (DOH) in cooperation with Viral Strategies, and Smokefree Philippines.
The campaign seeks to showcase Boracay, Palawan, Caramoan, and other premier beach destinations as pilot areas for smoke-free beaches, beginning at the Station 2 of Boracay Beach, Malay, Aklan.
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said it is timely to shed light on the harms of tobacco to the environment.
“To further strengthen our campaign against the use of tobacco, we have included this initiative to protect our beaches, parks, and tourist destinations from the environmental ill-effects of this product,” he said in a statement.
“With this, we hope to further raise awareness and create new areas of impact in our overall effort to ensure the health of the Filipino people.”
The health department noted that, annually, around 4.5 trillion cigarettes become waste and 4.2 million cigarette butts end up on beaches and waterways.
Meanwhile, the watchdog Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products (STOP) reiterated that the plastic and chemical contents in cigarette filters have been shown to exhibit detrimental effects on marine life and water quality.