By AFPMANILA (AFP) - Authorities in the Philippine capital Manila on Sunday announced a drive to strictly enforce a smoking ban in public places across the sprawling metropolis.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said that from Monday it would deploy policemen and specially trained enforcers across the city of 12 million people to round up violators.
The Philippines has a law banning smoking in public places dating from 2003, but it has largely been ignored in a country where according to surveys 28 percent of Filipinos aged 15 years and over, or 17.3 million people, are smokers.
“We must be very strict in implementing our anti-smoking regulation,” agency chairman Francis Tolentino said in a statement.
“We should transform Metro Manila into a smoke-free community.”
Those caught are to be fined 500 pesos ($11), which is more than the daily minimum wage in the impoverished country, and those who cannot pay the fine will be made to do community service.
Health advocates have also repeatedly called on the chain-smoking President Benigno Aquino to lead the campaign and quit.
Maricar Limpin, executive director of the anti-smoking lobby Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines, lauded the intensified campaign.
Limpin said the government should go beyond its campaign and prod congress to pass legislation to raise taxes on tobacco.
The Banaue rice terraces are part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras and are a leading tourism destination in the country.
The rice terraces are considered the “Eight Wonder of the World” and are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The rice terraces start from the base of the mountain range and reach up to several thousand feet high. Their length according to some estimates if put end to end would be equivalent to half the size of the globe.
Built about 2,000 years ago, the rice terraces are demonstration of the engineering skill and ingenuity of the early inhabitants of the area. Streams and springs found in the mountains were taped and channeled into irrigation canal that run downhill through the rice
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the official entry of the Philippines to the New 7 Wonders of Nature.
The Office of the President has convened a working committee composed of national government agencies to harmonize national efforts to push the lone Philippine entry to the top 7 position. The recognition of the Underground River as on of the world’s new 7 wonders is envisioned to promote the competitiveness of one of our banner ecotourism sites and create the opportunity that will showcase the attraction as a site for scientific study and the appreciation of nature and unique biodiversity found in the Province of Palawan.
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