4TH ASEAN SMOKE-FREE CITIES LEADERS' SUMMIT AND NON-SMOKING SPORTS AND SCOUTING ACTIVITIES
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 15 Oct 2016
KRABI, THAILAND - I attended the 4th ASEAN Smoke-Free Cities Leaders' Summit and Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) Regional Workshop on October 13-14 in this bustling resort city filled with beautiful beach islands in Southern Thailand. It was attended by more than 300 anti-smoking advocates from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and host Thailand.
Being smoke-free has been my advocacy of a healthy lifestyle together with sports development. As then City Mayor and now Vice Mayor and at the same time Chairman of the Task Force Tobacco-Free City we continued enforcing anti-smoking national laws and city ordinances. Smoking in Maasin is not only prohibited in public places but in streets and highways as well. And there are no designated smoking areas except in private places.
Our city hosted several smoke-free sports and scouting activities such as the 2013 ABAP National Boxing Championships, 2014 ABAP Visayas Regional Boxing Championships, 2012 Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association, 2010 7th National Scouts Rover Moot, 2010 1st One Visayas Scouts Jamboree, and the 2010 7th National Scouts Venture Camp.
We wanted to promote a smoke-free environment and visited every school to teach pupils and students not to smoke and let them encourage their smoking parents and relatives to strive to quit the vice. We closed and fined stores selling cigarettes 100 meters from schools, hospitals, clinics, day care centers, and places frequented by minors.
Implementing smoke-free laws will not diminish popularity of a leader. However it is appreciated by smokers and non-smokers alike especially those who would want to quit but had a hard time doing. And it is evidenced by my increasing winning margin every election.
I presented this during the ASEAN Smoke-Free Cities Summit and my speech was the most well-applauded and the most entertaining. During the elections, I was elected President of Smoke-Free Cities ASEAN Network (SCAN) Philippines and Public Information Officer (PIO) of SCAN ASEAN Region.
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