Health Advocates Hail Pullout of Philip Morris from Eraserheads Concert

Health advocates led by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Alliance Philippines (FCAP) hailed as victory for the health sector
the pull-out of a tobacco company from the much-awaited Eraserheads
reunion concert this weekend.

Amidst this, FCAP lauded the Department of Health for standing firm in
its position against the involvement of Philip Morris Phils.
Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI) in the concert.

Yesterday, PMPMI issued an official statement that it has pulled out
from the Eraserheads concert. While it did not state any reason for
the pull-out, the tobacco company’s decision came after FCAP together
with the DOH, the international group Tobacco Free Kids and other
civil society groups sought investigation on the former’s
participation in the concert.

“All’s well that ends well. We are happy with this development. This
is victory for all of us,” said FCAP executive director Dr. Maricar
Limpin, as she emphasized that the partnership between government and
civil society should be credited for PMPMI’s pull-out.

“Now, we will all be able to watch the concert without fear of being
polluted by advertising ploys of deadly products. And we hope the
concert will truly be smoke-free,” she added.

FCAP called on Eraserheads to declare the reunion as “smoke-free
night” even as the group wished the band well.

Limpin clarified that from the very start health advocates, including
FCAP and the DOH were not against the concert itself.

“In fact, a lot of us in the health sector were excited to watch it.
Many of us are also Eraserheads fans, mind you. The problem only
arose from the sponsorship of the tobacco company since our laws
clearly prohibit them (tobacco companies) from engaging in such
activities,” she said.

Prior to Philip Morris’ pull-out, FCAP asked the Inter-Agency
Committee-Tobacco (IAC-T) of the Department of Trade and Industry to
investigate the cigarette manufacturer for violating the law’s
provisions against advertising its brand and promoting cigarette
smoking through the Eraserheads concert.

RA 9211 prohibits “cigarette and tobacco companies from sponsoring any
sport, concert, cultural or art event, as well as individual and team
athletes, artists or performers where such sponsorship shall require
or involve the advertisement or promotion of any cigarette or tobacco
company, tobacco product or tobacco use.”

“The manner by which Philip Morris has utilized the electronic media
to stir interest and create hype about this event, lure both smokers
and non-smokers alike to its website with the expectation of obtaining
an invitation—thereby creating much publicity and getting electronic
media mileage about Marlboro, its product name—is nothing but plain
and simple, out-and-out advertisement,” Limpin said in her letter to
IAC-T.

She said that even though the Marlboro website effectively limits the
registration only to adults, these adult registrants are and will
become part of the tobacco company’s database, easily accessible to
its other forms of advertisements through the electronic media.

RA 9211 imposes a total ban on tobacco advertising in mass media,
including through the Internet, starting July 1, 2008. The law defines
advertising as “the business of conceptualizing, presenting, making
available and communicating to the public, through any form of mass
media, any fact, data or information about the attributes, features,
quality or availability of consumer products, services or credit.”

At least 10 Filipinos die of smoking-related diseases every hour, or
240 every day, according to data from the DOH.

Meanwhile, the 2005-2006 Tobacco and Poverty Study in the Philippines
done by the UP College of Public Health, National Epidemiology Center
of DOH, and WHO found that healthcare expenditures in only 4 major
diseases, namely, lung cancer, heart attacks, stroke, chronic
obstructive lung diseases amount to P276 billion. On the other hand,
Bureau of Internal Revenue figures in 2005 found that government
revenues from tobacco reached P92 billion pesos only. (30)