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PRESIDENT OF the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order that will impose a wide-ranging ban on smoking in public, reinforcing some of the toughest anti-tobacco measures in Asia.
Smoking cigarettes will be banned in many public places, while selling tobacco within 100 metres of schools and other areas where children gather could attract jail terms, according to the order published late yesterday.
Duterte, a firebrand leader most famous for waging a war on drugs in which thousands of people have died, had promised immediately after becoming president last year to introduce the smoking ban as part of a range of measures to impose more order on society.
Other measures included a ban on singing karaoke at night and a 2am curfew on drinking alcohol in public, although these have yet to be implemented.
Duterte rose to prominence as the longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, which he said he transformed from being crime-ridden into one of the nation’s most liveable and safe urban centres.
However, his critics have said Duterte has supplanted the rule of law with his war on drugs, alleging he has triggered a killing spree by police and vigilantes who have been spurred on by his calls for tens of thousands of people to die.
The order had been reported in some media as a blanket ban on smoking in public places.
However, the order did not make that clear and health department spokesman Eric Tayag said the exact areas to be banned would be announced later, with the order set to become law in 60 days.
Nevertheless, the order did state that smoking would be banned in all “enclosed” public places, which are defined as having a roof and at least one wall.
This means it will cover all public buildings, such as workplaces and malls. However there will be designated smoking areas allowed inside these buildings.
Smoking will also be banned on all forms of public transport.
For Duterte, 72, an ex-smoker, the ban is personal.
The leader has said repeatedly he contracted Buerger’s disease, an incurable illness affecting arteries and veins which causes great pain, because of his years of smoking, and that was one of the reasons he wanted to introduce the ban.
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So Trump! Your new BFF is still playing you….as he has since the beginning. Nice photo opportunities though.
@Paul Furey: He’s not playing him. The fact is DPRK have nuclear weapons with long range now. This puts them automatically in a better bargaining position than they were before. It is a development that is completely independent of who happens to be president of another country. Trump has advisors for every step.
Is this submarine parked in the middle of a forest?
@Martin McFly: Very sneaky. Last place you’d look for it.
Meanwhile Iran‘s revolutionary guards reveal plan to annihilate Israel.
@Qfire: Its unfortunate that this has been largely ignored by the worlds press. You can be sure if Israeli leaders issued a statement promising to wipe an Islamic country off the map ( for the crime of Islamic nationalism) there’d be a media feeding frenzy.
@Clifford Brennan: Maybe it’s largely ignored because it’s not true? Israel wouldn’t be the first to make up a story to justify spending on their war machine.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: It was very decent of the Ayatollah & the commander from the IRGC to agree to appear in the Israeli propaganda video – not to mention the supporting cast of 1000′s of Iranians and all filmed at an Islamic religious venue too. Those Israelis have it sussed. Also: cop on.
North Korea is not going to be told not to have Nuclear Weapons by a leader whose country has had them for many many years, come in and blasted leaders and sent their soldiers to Hassan Hussein [having supplied him with weaponry] and when it did not suit them anymore… raped and pillaged Iraq. When are people going to think US are the good guys ? NKorea just flexing muscles.
That man is actually frightening. He’s like a little boy playing with his toys.
As you do before talks about nuclear arms enrichment.
have your say