Anti-tobacco group files advertising complaint vs Philip Morris

(Updated 9:11 p.m., November 22) A health advocacy group has filed a complaint against Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing, Inc. (PMPMI) and Fortune Tobacco Corporation (FTC) for a newspaper feature on the tobacco giant that, it says, is in breach of the law against tobacco advertising. HealthJustice filed the complaint with the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T) on Wednesday afternoon, the group said in an emailed statement on Thursday. Reached for comment, PMPMI staff said the company would send a statement to GMA News Online but had not done so as of updated posting time. The complaint stems from a feature on PMFTC president Chris Nelson and the tobacco company’s corporate social responsibility that appeared in the January 22 issue of Starweek, a special section of the Philippine Star’s Sunday edition. According to HealthJustice, the feature violates Section 22 of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising in mass media. “By filing the complaint with them [IAC-T], HealthJustice hopes that this practice of circumventing the ban on advertising through media features will be put to an end,” the statement read. The IAC-T is the multi-agency body tasked with the implementation of Republic Act No. 9211, or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. The body is composed of the Trade Secretary as the chairman and the Heath Secretary as the vice chairman. Members include the Secretaries of Agriculture, Justice, Finance, and the Environment. "Big Tobacco, as usual, is pushing the envelope and trying to get away with it. This write-up on PMFTC's so-called CSR project is advertising and insidious advertising,” Theodore Te, a public interest lawyer working with the anti-tobacco group, said in the HealthJustice statement. “Articles like this perpetuates that 'normalcy' and make our kids think it’s okay to make and sell this lethal stuff,” added Ipat Luna, senior legal adviser of HealthJustice. — BM, GMA News