By Paulo Loreto Lim

Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca officially launched the city’s anti-smoking ordinance yesterday, which bans smoking in all public places.

“Smoking is not a good habit,” he said. “My own brother is under treatment for lung cancer and we lost two cousins due to smoking.”

Palanca, a former smoker himself, said amendments allowing for designated smoking areas have yet to be proposed.

According to the ordinance, violators will be fined P500 on their first offense; P800 on their second; and P1,000 on their third or jail time.

Bacolod City passed a similar ordinance earlier this year, along with Mayor Evelio Leonardia issuing an executive order creating the Bacolod Anti-Smoking Task Force (BASTF).

In Bacolod City, fines range from P500 on a first offense, P1,000 on the second, and P2,500 or 30 days behind bars on the third./PLL, WDJ