THE Department of Health (DOH) yesterday opposed the call of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to make the Philippines the manufacturing hub of vape and heated tobacco products.
In a brief statement, the DOH said it is not in favor of bringing factories or companies making HTPs and vapes to the Philippines.
“The DOH cautions against marketing the Philippines to multinational corporations as a manufacturing hub of vapes and HTPs,” said the DOH.
“(It will) result in the proliferation of these harmful products and worsen the tobacco epidemic in the country, and will undermine efforts to prevent and restrict access to these products,” the DOH added.
It stressed that having vape and HTP factories in the country will be in contrast to the goal of the Vape Regulation Act or Republic Act No. 11900.
“This move would be contrary to the policy intent of RA 11900 to protect the citizens from any potential hazards of HTPs,” the department said and urged the country’s economic managers to rethink the proposal.
“Economic managers should consider the long-term economic burden resulting from these harmful products due to premature sickness and deaths, which outweighs potential economic gains from investing in these industries,” the DOH said.
Last Wednesday, DTI Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo urged manufacturers of vapes and HTPs to make the Philippines the next destination for their factories.
Rodolfo said by doing so, companies can send their products to South East Asian countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong.
Rodolfo also noted an increasing local demand for HTPs and vape products.
