E. Ulysses Dorotheo
On World Health Day (April 7), more than 50 public health and tobacco control groups, led by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), submitted a petition to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, protesting the Philippines’ nomination to preside over the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) taking place in Geneva in May 2025. Citing recent actions of the Philippine government that contravene Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the signatories urged the member states of the WHO to rescind the nomination of the Philippines for the WHA presidency.
Over many decades, the tobacco industry has consistently lied and deceived the public regarding the dangers of consuming its lethal products. Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC is designed to protect Parties to the treaty from the vested interests of the tobacco industry, clearly identifying the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between public health interests and tobacco industry interests. Guidelines for implementing Article 5.3 recommend that all government officials and employees limit their interactions with the tobacco industry to only when strictly necessary, preclude partnerships and avoid conflicts of interest with the tobacco industry, and reject efforts by the tobacco industry to rehabilitate its image using corporate social responsibility activities.
However, in March 2025 at Malacañang Palace (the Presidential palace), representatives of the Philippine government, led by First Lady Liza Marcos, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, and Health Secretary Dr Teodoro Herbosa, welcomed the CEO and other executives of Philip Morris International (PMI) and its Philippine affiliate Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation (PMFTC), as they donated four mobile clinics to the First Lady’s Lab For All medical caravan project. PMFTC is a corporate sponsor and, with Japan Tobacco International, a private sector partner of Lab For All. Photos of the events were posted on the social media accounts of First Lady Liza Marcos and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. A similar PMFTC donation took place in August 2024, with the same government officials posing with a PMFTC officer and officials of the Quezon City Government.
The petition says:
“The active participation and applause of the Health Secretary legitimize these deceptive industry
tactics and undermine public trust in public health institutions tasked with protecting citizens from
tobacco harms and nicotine addiction. Furthermore, this legitimization of the tobacco industry
gives it undue influence over policymaking, undermining public health regulations to limit the
devastating impact of tobacco on public health.
This influence has been palpable at recent sessions of the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties
(COP), where industry-aligned positions and actions of the Philippine delegation disrupted and
delayed proceedings and earned the country three Dirty Ashtray awards from the Global Alliance
for Tobacco Control at COP9 and a fifth Dirty Ashtray award at COP10. The fifth Ashtray award
generated significant domestic and international media attention and led to the conduct of Senate
Blue Ribbon Committee hearings to investigate the delegation’s actions.
Nominating and electing a Health Secretary from a country that has repeatedly breached clearly-
defined ethical standards to preside over the WHA risks not only damaging the reputation of WHO
and the WHA but also diluting rather than strengthening global policies for promotion of public
health and its protection from commercial determinants of health.”
The petition and a complete list of signatories including organisations from the Philippines (Coalition for People’s Right to Health, Council for Health & Development, Parents Against Vape, Philippine Pediatric Society and Philippine Smoke-Free Movement) are available here.
E. Ulysses Dorotheo
Executive Director, SEATCA