At 13 years old, Alex Carillo Tacadao thought smoking cigarettes would make him look cool among his peers.

 

“Tobacco companies wanted me to believe smoking was cool,” Tacadao, who is now 61-years-old, says. “Yung pakiramdam ng sigarilyo sa pagitan ng mga daliri. Ang maliit na hithit ko at pagbuga sa hangin.”

 

At that time, Tacadao merely enjoyed his habit of smoking. What he didn’t know was that it would eventually pay off in ways he didn’t imagine. 

 

It was in 1986 when Tacadao learned that he has Buerger’s disease, which Mayo Clinic defines as a disease that “eventually damages or destroys skin tissues and may lead to infection and gangrene.” Usually attributed to the intake of nicotine, a chemical compound found in cigarettes, Buerger’s disease may lead to the amputation of one’s limbs to stop the infection caused by swollen and blocked blood vessels from spreading throughout the body.

 

Unfortunately, it was too late when Tacadao learned about his condition—he was told that one of his fingers and one of his toes needed to be amputated. But more than stopping him from smoking, his operation three decades ago only marked the beginning of a series of relapses and surgeries.

 

“[Tobacco companies] didn’t want me to know that nicotine is addictive,” Tacadao, who lost a total of two fingers and two toes due to the disease, explains.

 

 

Apart from Buerger’s disease, cigarette smoking may result in other illnesses such as cancer, psoriasis, hearing loss, and heart diseases. This may be attributed to the more than 7,000 chemicals found in a single cigarette stick, which include, among others, poisonous ones such as insecticides and fuel.

 

“Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average,” states a document by the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region, “about the same time it takes to smoke a cigarette.”

 

In its Smoking Cessation Program rationale, the Department of Health (DOH), citing another WHO study, says tobacco-related deaths will not decrease in the next 30 to 50 years “unless adult smokers are encouraged to quit.” 

 

Despite the health risks, the WHO says people continue to smoke because of several factors like advertising influences, peer pressure, and misconceptions that promote smoking behavior.

 

As of 2009, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey shows that there are more than 17 million Filipinos who are smokers, 23 percent of which smoke daily. The same poll found out that 48 percent attempted to quit, but only 5 percent were successful.

 

 

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he will sign an executive order (EO) on banning smoking in public places nationwide.

 

“[It] will follow the Davao experience,” Duterte, who became Davao mayor prior to his presidency, told the media before leaving for a state visit to Brunei last October. The president was referring to the smoking ban in the city, where no one is allowed to smoke in both open and enclosed public areas.

 

Four months since the announcement, however, the said EO is still in limbo.

 

Anti-tobacco groups across the country are now calling on Duterte to sign the document—in the hopes of reducing people dying from smoking-related diseases. 

 

“Right now, [Duterte] has an executive order on his desk that would designate smoke-free places across the country,” the groups, through Smoke-Free Philippines, said in a letter that is part of their #TheyLieWeDie campaign against tobacco manufacturers. 

 

“Tobacco companies sell their lies and tobacco to us,” they add. “We can’t wait any longer. It’s time for Filipinos to say no to the lies of tobacco companies and yes to a healthy future for our families.”