That is how one tobacco control advocate described how congressmen regarded the inputs from the health sector, choosing instead to cling to the tobacco industry. An outspoken critic of novel tobacco products, Gonzalez felt threatened after that incident. In the Philippines, this is best seen in how legislators pushed for the trade department to regulate the novel tobacco products. According to a July 2017 report by global news agency Reuters, Philip Morris targets the WHO-FCTC conferences where new tobacco control measures are negotiated, and also intervenes at the country level where treaty delegates are picked and tobacco control rules are enacted. "The reason the tobacco control community has been so successful in the past is we spoke with a united voice.

Source: Manila Times April 15, 2022 16:01 UTC