Rowegie Abanto

An individual is photograph vaping an electronic cigarette in Quezon City on May 31, 2024. In a recent regional conference of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) in Bangkok, Thailand, World Health Organizatio (WHO) urged the youth must lead the charge in calling out the tobacco industry for its manipulative and deceptive tactics, which create devastating impact on health, social justice, and the environment. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

An individual is photograph vaping 

ABS-CBN News

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176394926371120240531-vape-smoking-MT-1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">An individual is photographed vaping in Quezon City on May 31, 2024. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Health over the weekend floated the idea of a sweeping ban on vape products as it condemned the &quot;deceptive&quot; marketing of the e-cigarettes, which the agency said pose serious health risks.</p><p>Speaking on DZMM on Saturday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa lamented that some high school students were using and flaunting vapes, which are battery-operated devices that heat e-liquid products — also called vape juice, usually with flavors — and generate aerosols.</p><p>&quot;Eighteen years old and above ang puwedeng mag-vape pero umikot ka, tingnan mo &#x27;yung mga bata naka-high school uniform may vape implement sa leeg nila at makikita mo nagve-vape,&quot; Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/31/ph-records-first-death-due-to-vape-related-lung-injury-1123">Philippines records first death due to vape-related lung injury</a></div><p>He pointed out that vape companies target the youth in their advertising materials, warning that it could be difficult to quit using e-cigarettes once a person has become addicted to them.</p><p>&quot;Nakita mo nang tuluyan ang advertising ng ating vape industries may flavored &#x27;yung mga cartoons, so totally talagang totoo na ang mina-market nila sa ating kabataan kasi kapag nalulong ka na diyan sa vape ay hindi ka na makakaalis diyan,&quot; said Herbosa.</p><p>He also said that some vape firms were launching misleading marketing of vaping as &quot;less harmful&quot; than cigarette smoking.</p><p>&quot;Kailangan striktuhan natin &#x27;yung enforcement nung batas na pinasa natin o baka mas madali mag-total ban na lang tayo para wala nang mabili itong mga kabataan,&quot; he said.</p><p>In a statement, the DOH warned that e-cigarettes and tobacco products could lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other lung illnesses.</p><p>Last year, health advocates announced the Philippines&#x27; <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/31/ph-records-first-death-due-to-vape-related-lung-injury-1123">first death due to e-cigarette</a> or vape-associated lung injury (EVALI).</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;ALARMING NEW WAVE OF NICOTINE ADDICTION&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The World Health Organization warned in October that e-cigarettes were fueling an &quot;alarming&quot; new wave of nicotine addiction, with millions of children now hooked on vaping.</p><p>In countries that have the data, children are on average nine times more likely than adults to vape, the WHO said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/10/7/surging-numbers-of-children-using-e-cigarettes-who-0845">Surging numbers of children using e-cigarettes: WHO</a></div><p>The UN health agency said the industry was promoting vapes as supposedly less harmful products than cigarettes — but in fact was aggressively targeting young people and getting children addicted.</p><p>More than 100 million people are vaping, according to the WHO&#x27;s first global estimate of e-cigarette use.</p><p>They include at least 86 million adults, mostly in high-income countries — and at least 15 million children aged 13 to 15.</p><p>&quot;E-cigarettes are fueling a new wave of nicotine addiction,&quot; Etienne Krug, the WHO&#x27;s director of health determinants, promotion and prevention, said in a statement.</p><p>&quot;They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.&quot;</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES: </strong></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IBioQfAKMQk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>"Eighteen years old and above ang puwedeng mag-vape pero umikot ka, tingnan mo 'yung mga bata naka-high school uniform may vape implement sa leeg nila at makikita mo nagve-vape," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.</p>

"Eighteen years old and above ang puwedeng mag-vape pero umikot ka, tingnan mo 'yung mga bata naka-high school uniform may vape implement sa leeg nila at makikita mo nagve-vape," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

DOH floats total ban on vape

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DOH floats total ban on vape

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News,

Agence France-Presse

Published November 24, 2025 10:09 AM PHT

|

Updated November 24, 2025 07:09 PM PHT

Read More:

DOH

Department of Health

Vape

Total Ban Vape

Vape Products

E-Cigarettes

Lung Cancer

Nicotine

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