Palawan pushes for smoke-free hotels, restaurants

Puerto Princesa City – Soon, smoke-free hotels and restaurants will be the “in” thing in this city.

The Department of Health (DOH) today announced that transients, out of towners and diners who despise tobacco smoke will soon be spared from said inconvenience and health hazard as a number of hotels and restaurants have committed to make their places smoke-free.

“We are considering these turn of events as a high point in the government’s campaign for a healthy lifestyle. Smoking is indeed deadly, even in its second-hand form. In fact, there are as many non-smokers who develop lung cancer as smokers themselves. Second-hand smoking indeed can be as fatal as smoking itself,” DOH Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.

Apart from those who committed for total ban on smoking, the DOH said that there are also a handful of other hotels and restaurants who pledged for a non-smoking day today, the World No-Tobacco Day.

According to the Framework Convention Alliance Philippines (FCAP), at least three hotels and restaurants in Palawan, including Princesa Inn, Circon Lodge and Skylight Apartelle have committed to a total smoking ban for the observance of World No Tobacco Day.

Meanwhile, the FCAP also disclosed that 12 other local establishment in Palawan have already designated specific areas in their places where smoking is allowed only. These include Whiteview Paradise Hotel, Legend Hotel, Asturias Hotel, Rengel Hotel, Pagdayon Inn, Tropical Sun Inn, D Lucky Garden Inn, Casa Linda, Lola Itang Pension, Payuyo Pension, Albon Pension and Audissie Pensione.

Experts say that second-hand smoke refers to the smoke from burning tobacco products generated by smokers. They added that when tobacco smoke contaminates the air, especially in enclosed spaces, it is breathed by everyone, exposing both smokers and non-smokers to its harmful effects.

“There is no doubt that second-hand smoke is dangerous. In fact, it will take six typhoon ‘Milenyos’ to clean up a smoke place because ventilators, ionizers and other related devices simply cannot do all the work,” Duque stressed.

Health authorities also disclosed that there are 4,000 known chemicals in tobacco smoke and that more than 50 of them are known to cause cancer in humans. Aside from cancer, second-hand smoke also causes heart disease and many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in children and adults.

To date, the economic burden in the Philippines caused by first-hand smokers alone reaches about six billion dollars annually. (PIA Palawan)

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