27 September 2025
By Gianna Gayle H.
Amul, Samantha Joan Ackary – Rappler
To truly build a healthier future, we must draw a clear line: the tobacco industry cannot be both the arsonist and the architect of public health
The Philippines is a party to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which aims to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental, and economic consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
As a party to the WHO FCTC, the Philippines has an obligation to implement comprehensive tobacco control measures, including Article 5.3 of the Convention, which mandates the protection of public health policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. In the Philippines, this is encapsulated through the Civil Service Commission–Department of Health (CSC-DOH) Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2010-01. It provides guidelines for government officials and employees on interacting with the tobacco industry, including transparency measures and limitations on unnecessary engagement.
However, despite the implementation of CSC-DOH JMC 2010-01 and being a long-standing party to the FCTC, the Philippines continues to struggle in fully insulating its public health policies from commercial interests, lagging behind many in the region.
The 2023 Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index ranked the Philippines 60th out of over 90 countries, indicating moderate to high levels of tobacco industry interference. This alerts to persistent challenges in curbing undue industry influence, as well as weak enforcement of existing policy safeguards.
For example, in 2022, Congress passed Republic Act (RA) 11900, or the “Vape Law,” which regulates the sale, distribution, and use of e-cigarettes and similar products in the Philippines. The passage of RA 11900 was primarily driven by long-standing industry allies within the Northern Luzon Alliance — a bloc of 48 lawmakers from tobacco-dependent regions.Ilocos Sur representatives Deogracias Victor Savellano and Grace Kristine Singson-Meehan, then president and secretary, respectively, of the alliance, co-authored the Vape Bill to regulate vaping under the banner of “harm reduction.”
The Vape Law reflects regulatory backsliding and troubling alignment with industry interest, such as lowering the age of access from 21 years old to 18 years old and transferring regulatory jurisdiction from the DOH-Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry.
Well-documented tactic
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is likewise a well-documented tactic of industry interference. Article 5.3 of the FCTC explicitly warns governments to reject partnerships or non-binding agreements with the tobacco industry, including CSR activities. However, despite the implementation of CSC-DOH JMC No. 2010-01, there have been several violations of the memorandum and of FCTC Article 5.3.
In 2021, the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation, Inc., a beneficiary of Philip Morris International Inc.,turned over tablets to barangays through the Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary and signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Housing Authority in support of the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa” program.
More recently, in 2024, executives from the Department of Agriculture and the Tan Yan Kee Foundation Incorporated — the CSR arm of the Lucio Tan Group, joint owner of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation — signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction and rehabilitation of small-scale irrigation projects across the country.
In other instances, the tobacco industry used CSR to align with the Sustainable Development Goals and partnered with government agencies to address issues like illicit trade, promoting itself as a responsible corporate actor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry amplified this image by donating funds and supplies, while publicizing these actions through mass and social media.These tactics build influence, normalize the tobacco industry’s presence in public service, and gain political goodwill.
Lobbying against the sin tax is another key interference tactic of the tobacco industry. Despite the passage of various tax laws and regulations on tobacco and e-cigarettes — including RA 10351, RA 11346, and RA 1146-heavy industry interference and loopholes in implementation were considered to have weakened these laws.
Industry narratives framed sin taxes as a threat to the livelihood of local tobacco farmers. To compromise, it was proposed that 15% of the incremental revenue from tobacco excise taxes be earmarked for tobacco-growing provinces to help tobacco farmers and workers shift to alternative livelihoods. However, misuse of tobacco excise tax funds is a persistent problem.
For instance, in 2017, former Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos faced allegations from the House on the misuse of P66.5 million in tobacco excise funds to support tobacco farmers.In other instances, tobacco companies front-loaded product releases in 2012 to avoid higher taxes and used premium brand profits to subsidize cheaper ones, letting smokers switch brands instead of quitting.
Where do we go from here?
These tactics reveal how, even in the face of landmark legislation, the tobacco industry continued to find ways to blunt public health victories. By exploiting economic anxieties, lobbying for weaker provisions, and manipulating pricing strategies, the industry preserved its market power and undermined the health goals of the sin tax laws.
The recently concluded World Conference on Tobacco Control 2025 called on tobacco control allies to “hold the tobacco industry liable for the harms it causes.” We cannot protect our fundamental human right to health if we allow the industry to participate in its fulfillment.
The Philippines must strengthen its Article 5.3 safeguards by re-issuing the CSC-DOH JMC 2010-01 and removing tobacco industry representatives from the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco — because protecting public health requires shutting the door on interference. To truly build a healthier future, we must draw a clear line: the tobacco industry cannot be both the arsonist and the architect of public health. – Rappler.com
Gianna Gayle H. Amul, PhD, Non-Resident Research Fellow, and Samantha Joan Ackary, Project Coordinator, are part of the Tobacco Control & Governance program of the School of Government, Ateneo de Manila University.