DoH pushes for total ban on e-cigarettes, vape products

THE Department of Health (DoH) on Monday pushed for the total ban on electronic cigarettes and other vape products as regulation falls short.

“According to the current policies, the restriction on the use of vape is 18 years old, but we can see that young people are still able to buy it. There are also products that are not registered,” DoH Health Promotion Bureau Director Maria Kristina May L. Marasigan told a Senate hearing, in Filipino.

A total ban on vape products is also expected to simplify enforcement, she added, noting that they will no longer need to separate legal nicotine products from illegal ones.

While waiting for a total ban, the DoH recommended imposing a unified tax to discourage youth from purchasing e-cigarettes.

The Health department backed proposals to impose a unified tax rate with nonnegotiable 5% annual indexation as well as an increase in the age restriction to 25 years old from 18, according to a manifestation, read by Ms. Marasigan.

Out of 11 ASEAN countries, eight nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, and Myanmar, have implemented a total vape ban.

Should a total ban be impractical, the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD) has called for the return of vape and heated tobacco products (HTPs) regulation to the DoH and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Transfer back the regulation of vape and HTPs to the DoH and FDA because this is a health issue and these products should be treated as health hazards, not as regular consumer products,” Aurora O. Quilala, executive director of PLCPD, said in a mix of English and Filipino during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.

At present, the Department of Trade and Industry is the lead agency regulating said products. It has so far confiscated P519 million worth of HTPs since August 2024, Trade Assistant Secretary Marcus N. Valdez II said.
The PLCPD also pushed for the increase of age restriction to 21 years old. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel