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Launching blue ribbon campaign and smoke-free merit badge

Province of Albay, the Philippines

A two-part meaningful ceremony was conducted 28 June 2012 in Legazpi City, the capital of

Alay !ro"ince, spearheaded y the #mo$e-%ree Alay &etwor$ '#%A&( in collaoration with

the )orld *ealth +rganization his ceremony mar$ed a new wa"e of the smo$e-freecampaign in Alay

.ore than 200 guests attended the e"ent from the 18 cities and municipalities of Alay,

which included City and .unicipal *ealth +/cers, .ayors, .emers of the Alay !ro"incial

oard, oy #couts and irl #couts of the !hilippines '#! and #!(, the media, usiness

owners and the memers of the #%A&

A series of technical wor$ing group meetings were held to prepare for this grand e"ent he

technical wor$ing group was composed of nine representati"es from #%A& memer

agencies 3epartment of *ealth '3+*(, !hilippine 4nformation Agency, #!, #!, !ro"incial

*ealth +/ce, Alay !olice !ro"incial +/ce, 5AAL45A 'a group of radio communicators(and local ci"il society groups, !inoy !ower Coalition and A3367A&A and chaired y the

memer from the !ro"incial *ealth +/ce

lue 9ion Campaign ad"ocacy materials such as polo shirts were produced prior to the

e"ent 3+* pro"ided ad"ocacy fans to manifest their support to the lue 9ion Campaign

 he ceremony was opened y #%A& Chair *erert or:a who proudly welcomed the guests

and encouraged the L; leaders to :oin #%A& in ad"ocating for smo$e-free Alay

Launching of the lue 9ion Campaign commenced with a "ideo presentation showing the

campaign conducted in #ingapore, followed y the awarding ceremony he awardees

include four local go"ernment units 'L;s( of Alay !ro"ince, namely, Ligao City, aaco

City, .unicipality of 3araga and Legazpi City, who are smo$e-free indoor en"ironments, emphasizing the estalishments? concern

in protecting their customers against second-hand smo$e

.ayor eraldine 9osal of Legazpi City which recei"ed 3+*?s 9ed +rchid Award in 2010

encouraged other L;s to ma$e their cities and municipalities smo$e-free 4n her message,

she emphasized how hard it was the @rst time they implemented the smo$e-free ordinance

of Legazpi in 200, ut with the support of partners and the political will of then .ayor &oel

9osal, the implementation was sustained

%ollowing the lue 9ion awarding ceremony, another awarding ceremony for the #mo$e-%ree .erit adge was carried out he .erit adge is to recognize the choices of the youth to

e smo$e-free and for completing certain tas$s and challenges gi"en to the scouts prior to

the e"ent such as posting of no-smo$ing stic$ers to pulic utility "ehicles, collecting

ashtrays and cigarette utts, con"incing smo$ers to Buit and ma$ing scrapoo$s on

smo$ing he .erit adge was awarded to 10 scouts from #! and #!

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4n &o"emer 2011, Alay adopted a local smo$e-free ordinance 4n addition to the

prohiition of smo$ing in pulic places, the ordinance also prohiits the purchase of toacco

products to minors as well as sales to minors and restricts toacco ad"ertising, promotion

and sponsorship acti"ities he new smo$e-free ordinance ga"e further momentum to the

smo$e-free initiati"e of Alay

PHILIPPINE ! he Alay pro"ince has o/cially set a an on the use of plastic ags,

#tyrofoam and other synthetic materials after the implementation of !ro"incial +rdinance

&o 2011-

 he launch of the +rdinance was held at the LCC .all Acti"ity Center and led y !ro"incial

o"ernor, Joey #arte #alceda and 7ice o"ernor *arold 4mperial together with the memers

of !ro"incial oard

 he ordinance will ta$e eDect this coming June after the pro"incial go"ernment lifts the one

year moratorium pro"ided to commercial estalishments in all 1 towns and three cities of

the pro"ince

;nder the !+ &o 2011-1, all grocery owners, department stores, supermar$ets, chain

retailers and mini stores can no longer use plastic, styrofoan and synthetic materials as

pac$aging or ags

 hose found "iolating the ordinance will e meted !1,000 E !,000 and ha"e their usiness

permits cancelled

 he pro"incial go"ernment together with other enforcement agencies ha"e already met with

the owners of the aDected commercial estalishments to discuss the salient features of the

said ordinance

!lastic ags usually @nds its way into waterways, ri"ers, canals, eaches, streets and par$s

as a litter, and when urned these emit toFic fumes into the air !lastic materials are non-

iodegradale and will ta$e aout G00 years efore they start to decompose

 he ordinance aims to decrease the "olume of plastic pollutants and strengthen its

en"ironmental protection measures in the interest of pulic health and safety