OTD: Our Stand on the No-Smoking Policy
Itching for a smoke? You may want to think twice before grabbing that lighter.
Since May 30th of this year, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Toledo, along with 17 mayors from Local Government Units have aggressively been apprehending policy violators in public places around the Metro in accordance to the Republic Act 9211 and the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. Smokers caught puffing away in public places such as mall entrances, PUV terminals and other public areas, including major and secondary roads in Metro Manila, will be apprehended and fined or to render community service.
With the continuous and strict enforcement of the smoking ban, even businesses and establishments find themselves implementing anti-smoking rules and regulations to show their support. President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, a smoker himself, expressed his full support to the campaign and is said to comply with the ban in efforts to achieve a smoke-free Metro Manila.
The No-Smoking campaign has been met with a lot of brouhaha the first time it broke. To say that this is the proverbial straw that will break the camel’s back with regard to the latest MMDA policy isn’t even one part of a greater health and social issue that we need to fix in our society.
Local businesses in Metro Manila began to comply with the MMDA ban despite fear of losing customers and sales. To note, the local franchise of the well-loved Starbucks brand, after implementing a no-smoking ban on its coffee chains all over Manila, received a lot of backlash from Twitter followers. A joke between commentators in a Tumblr conversation ensued with this line:
“What am I going to do at Starbucks? Drink coffee?”
Smokes and Mirrors
People’s attitude towards the MMDA’s non-smoking policy isn’t new. Even the MMDA cannot recall a single policy that has not been met with a lot of criticism from the public. But looking at the bigger picture, the No-Smoking policy is beyond a request for a cleaner metro: it is a call to resolve a bigger health and social threat which we need to pay attention to.
Wikipedia defines smoking as “one of the most common forms of recreational drug use”. Over time, smoking has been socially embedded as an acceptable practice, that recent studies say that the dependency to smoke has always been a part of one’s individuality and a factor for social fit.
Almost everyone does it, and non-smokers often shrug it off despite the discomfort, especially in public places. When a non-smoker complains about the smoke in a public place, it is not imperative for the smoker accommodate. Smoking is regarded as a social norm and that people mistook their civil rights as the freedom to smoke in public places.
It is amazing though, how people change their views on what social norms are and are not over time. What was regarded as a spiritual and an unthinkable practice reserved for the shamans and witch doctors is now an acceptable habit and even a rite of passage for the young over time. Despite the increasing death tolls, it was easy for some to forget the consequences when the very thing that kills was serving a supposedly higher, but false purpose.
The War Zone
The MMDA’s quest for a no-smoking policy is a call for a healthier lifestyle in an already congested world. The MMDA and LGU collaboration is just one of the few measures taken to ensure the the strict enforcement of the “No-Smoking” policy. Both agencies work hand in hand with the Philippine National Police in arresting those who continue to smoke in public places which have “No-Smoking” signs. A first offense entails the violators to pay a fine of 500 Php, while those who cannot afford the to pay the fee will be compelled to render an 8 hour community service. Such measures are intended to fulfill the end goal of creating a smoke-free Metro Manila by 2012. According to the MMDA chairman, Francis Tolentino, “ We should transform Metro Manila into a smoke-free community. A healthy Metro Manila is a healthy and progressive Philippines.”
Local franchise brand Starbucks converted all previously designated smoking outdoor areas of into non-smoking zones starting June 27. Signages were put up around stores to remind the customers about the new policy and their intention of complying with the enforcement campaign.
Local offices took immediate action. Outsourcing Things Done recently showed its support on the smoking ban by imposing a non-smoking policy to its 80-strong team, wherein employees are no longer allowed in the OTD offices within 2 hours of smoking. Recruitment is now opting for non-smoking, qualified applicants over smokers with the same skill sets. A clause about the no-smoking policy is in the works of being drafted into employment contracts.
The compliance to the smoking ban goes beyond halting people to smoke and smell of smoke. Current team members who smoke will expect full support and guidance from the entire team as part of OTD’s company culture and corporate athlete program. Otherwise, they are given opportunities to re-evaluate their core values as with the company’s.
- OTD hires 0 successful applicants based on their skill sets
- OTD hires 100 percent number of applicants based on culture fit
Despite the campaign, the team has yet to achieve a milestone in influencing their neighbors. A raw, informal survey dubbed “The Elevator Observation” was conducted along the perimeters of the building and the numbers are shocking:
- A smoker uses the elevator to go down and have their smoke 24 times a day
- A smoker uses the elevator for a smoke at least 3 times within an hour
- Smokers generate 300 percent electricity when using the elevator for smoke
Some OTD members seized the opportunity to develop a healthier, smoke-free lifestyle. Carla Patricio, a smoker, was initially shocked with the immediate imposition of the no-smoking policy but later on realized how this policy might actually help the smokers minimize the habit and quit. Noting social conformity, there’s a possibility that everyone would quit when no one in the team would smoke as the habit is no longer regarded a norm. To her, smoking is tempting so much that having people to set you in the right path should be welcomed.
Gino Villanueva, has been frequently trying to quit his smoking habits. He has now gone the extra mile by enrolling in the company fitness program. He proudly boasted later that he stopped smoking and shifted his energies by taking his fitness program seriously.
Although stressed in many occasions, smokers tend to forget that this type of substance abuse affects more people than just the smoker. Jaycette Guillermo has asthma, which makes her susceptible to an attack with frequent exposure to second-hand smoke.Her mother was glad to know that there was one place in her daughter’s life that she can be assured Jaycette was safe and healthy.
Manila columnist and writer Jessica Zafra may well sum up a second-hand smoker’s peeve:
“Sure you have the right to smoke. Sure you have the right to choose your own poisons. Sure you have the freedom to suck tar and nicotine until your lungs turn black and your throat becomes a raging sea of phlegm. If you want to continue stuffing your hard-earned money up the snouts of multi-national cigarette companies, that’s fine, too. … Tell you what, you murderers, I’ll respect your right to smoke if you respect my right not to breathe your smoke. I mean, if I’m going to die of substance abuse, let it be my own substance abuse, not other people’s. Now if you don’t heed this simple request, I’m bringing out my water pistols.”
The Smoking Gun
As more facts compound and support the decision to eliminate smoking, the increase in the number of people smoking does not solely attribute to the tobacco industry, the witty ads or the cool package, or your Hollywood blue-eyed idol. It is, and has always been, the dormant attitude of people towards change. Why flak at a change for the better when we readily accept anything foreign as smoking in the first place, not minding the effects of it? Does smoking speak for the Filipino because we culturally are adamant to change?
Or if you’re the pragmatic one, think of it this way: every centavo that you spend, every ounce of energy you use to go up and down the building for a smoke, and every minute of your life are lost to a single, minuscule cigarette stick.
We consume without even noticing the effects. How many times aren’t we mindful of the many pesos spent on “supposedly cheap” cigarettes that accumulate to roughly a third chunk of your measly monthly budget? How many times aren’t we mindful that we endanger our non-smoking friends 66% every time we smoke around them, even with permission to do so?
Does that even make sense? No it doesn’t. Smoking has no purpose. It is a cheap drug that affects EVERYONE AROUND YOU.
Smoking has been and will always be a dirty habit.
Supporting a greater, worldly cause takes a greater undertaking of the social consciousness and with this in mind, OTD and many others have resolved to promote a healthy lifestyle while offering a clean, work-conducive and happy environment.
So be mindful and chuck that cigarette.
