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CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has confiscated at least 81 vapes in 48 hours after the announcement of President Rodrigo Duterte to ban vaping in public places on November 19, 2019.
Read more: Duterte bans use, importation of e-cigarettes
Police Colonel Geovanie Maines, the acting chief of the CCPO, said that since there was no clear directive to apprehend those vaping in public, they simply confiscated the e-cigarette and remind the user not to vape in public areas.
“Yung pinakamarami na naconfiscate natin ay sa Waterfront Police Station at sa Mabolo Police Station kasi mga central business districts. (The most e-cigarettes we have confiscated are from the jurisdiction of the Waterfront Police Station and Mabolo Police Station, because these areas are the central business districts),” said Maines.
Maines said those who vaped in public voluntarily gave up their e-cigarettes following the apprehension with a promise to stop using vape in public areas.
Read more: Police in Central Visayas to start apprehending persons using e-cigarettes in public
Maines encouraged the public to follow the directives of the President since e-cigarettes had been proven to be just as unhealthy for secondhand smokers as those exposed to regular cigarette smoke.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said he was supporting the move of the President to ban vape in public areas because it was causing health problems to the public especially children and non-smokers.
He said he would request the city council to sponsor an ordinance banning vapes in public so that those who would vape in public would really be apprehended instead of just mere confiscation of the e-cigarettes./dbs