A pending bill in the House of Representatives is pushing to adjust the minimum age allowing individuals to smoke from the current legal age of 18 to 21 years old.

The principal author of House Bill (HB) 6210, Rep. Jose Singson Jr. of Party-list Probinsiyano Ako, states that the minimum age needs to be modified due to public health concerns, especially with the global pandemic. The bill is planned to be deliberated and passed before the start of the May 2022 elections.

HB 6210 seeks to amend Republic Act 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2203 which states that people below 18 years old are banned from using, selling, or distributing cigarettes or tobacco products. The definition of smoking is also established to be an “act of carrying any lighted or heated cigarette or other tobacco products and its derivatives in whatever form, whether being inhaled, smoked, vaped or consumed by whatever means.”

Moreover, the bill will provide signages to be posted in various establishments with the statement: “It is unlawful for tobacco products and its derivatives to be sold/distributed to or purchased by persons under 21 years of age.”

Singson stated that the bill follows the recommendation from UN Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (UNIATF-NCD), which is greatly backed by the Philippine Society of Medical Oncologists.

The party-list representative also referred to the World Health Organization’s study on cancer as 17,255 Filipinos were diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019. In 2018, 15,454 reported deaths were caused by lung disease.