Police Colonel Julian Entoma has ordered the police in Negros Oriental to strictly implement the banning of vaping in public spaces. | Florence Baesa
DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — The Negros Oriental Provincial Police (NOPPO) will strictly implement the banning of vaping in public places in the province of Negros Oriental.
Police Colonel Julian Entoma, NOPPO director, in an ambush interview with reporters during the launching of the Valencia Municipal Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) this morning (November 21) said that after the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte, the police immediately implemented the banning of smoking of e-cigarettes in public areas.
Read more: Duterte bans use, importation of e-cigarettes
Entoma said the Police Regional Office Director in Central Visayas (PRO-7), Police Brigadier General Valeriano De Leon has directed the policemen to confiscate the e-cigarettes used in public spaces.
Read more: Police in Central Visayas to start apprehending persons using e-cigarettes in public
“Ang tawong agrabiyado atong dad-on sa police station, atong i-blotter ang pangalan. Pag-abot unya sa atong implementing rules and regulations regarding sa maong pronouncement, multa ba o makuha iyang vaper or duna na gyuy kaso i-file nato kay naa siya sa public places gagamit una nato iimplementar. Sa ato pa duna na tay identity sa tag-iya,” Entoma said.
(The violator who would resist or complain about the police confiscating the vape can be brought to the police station and right their name on the blotter. When the implementing rules and regulations on the banning of e-cigarettes will arrive then they can be fined or he can retrieve his vape or we can file a case since he used his vape in a public place when had not fully implemented this rule.)
However, Entoma added for those accosted for vaping in public places could voluntarily surrender the vape without being brought to the police station.
In Dumaguete City, Entoma said “duna nay gi voluntary surrender and in other stations negative.”
Entoma appealed to the e-cigarette smokers in the province to avoid smoking in public places./dbs