Moms Replace Tobacco ad with Antismoking Sign

Source from:  By Allison Lopez Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines 03/05/2008 03/06/2008

Concerned mothers and health practitioners removed Wednesday an outdoor tobacco advertisement billboard from a store near two schools in Manila, and replaced it with a antismoking sign, "Care for Kids," part of the "No See Yosi" campaign to discourage the youth from smoking. "It is my responsibility as a mother to protect my child from any danger to his health like smoking. I think our youth is being lured into the habit of smoking by the billboards they see on their way to school," said Lisa Vullag, one of the mothers who removed the tobacco ad from Zulueta Store on Pedro Gil Street. The store, a stone's throw away from Guerrero Elementary School and La Concordia College, was one of 11 stores in Manila listed in the "Book of Violations" presented by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) to the Department of Health. The FCAP is a nonprofit antismoking coalition that includes the Philippine Cancer Society, Philippine College of Chest Physicians, and Philippine Heart Association. "We are doing this in line with the public health sector's initiative to encourage store owners to remove voluntarily tobacco billboards and create a positive environment for kids that will prevent them from taking up a lifelong addiction to smoking," said Dr. Maricar Limpin, of the Philippine College of Chest Physicians. Limpin said the activity was also meant to challenge tobacco companies that seemed to continue to disregard Section 22 (Outdoor Tobacco Ad Ban) of the Comprehensive Tobacco Regulation Act. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey in 2007 showed that four million Filipino youth, aged 11-19 years, used tobacco, FCAP said. Enditem