He was so addicted to smoking that he could not even last through the two-hour session held once a week by the Municipal Council of Amlan in Negros Oriental without going out of the air-conditioned hall to smoke.

With each painful breath, he fought for his life as the ambulance ran through more than 20 kilometers to get to Dumaguete City where the hospital was located.

But his journey did not end there.

His doctor said he had to be transferred to Cebu City, the nearest locality with more advanced life-saving equipment.

“I was told that four veins in my heart was blocked and could no longer function properly. It was that blockage that made breathing so hard and painful for me,” Tubac recalled, “I was just lucky that I had friends who transferred me instead to the Philippine Heart Center.”

Tubac said July 6 became the turning point of his life or, to be more specific, the start of his long and painful battle against nicotine addiction.

ORDINANCE 03

More than a year since that life-threatening incident, Councilor Tubac was already at the forefront of the fight against cigarette smoke and the deceptive marketing tools of big tobacco companies.

He became so knowledgeable of how cigarettes destroy the human body that he became the town’s perfect preacher against smoking. To those who smoke, his message was “quit or die.” And to those who don’t, he simply says “don’t start because you may not be able to stop until it’s too late.”

“I really don’t need to show them the ugly scars left by the heart operation. Everyone in town knew that this is what I gained from all those years of smoking. I am a living example of the ill effects of smoking,” he said.

Councilor Tubac is the primary proponent of Amlan’s Ordinance 3, which prohibits the smoking of all tobacco products in enclosed or partially enclosed public and work spaces in Amlan town.

“The ordinance is not so much of a call for smokers to quit – I might not have enough luck to do that. But I could still do so much for the next generation. I wanted to protect the children from the evils of cigarette smoking. I don’t want them to start and get addicted. I want to protect them from second hand smoke. I don’t want them to be like me, a victim of cigarette smoke,” he added.

The measure was passed unanimously. It was also approved for implementation by Mayor Bentham dela Cruz.

The mayor himself is no stranger to the ill effects of smoking having lost his brother and his father to lung cancer years ago.

Last July 17, 2009 both Councilor Tubac and Mayor Dela Cruz, along with more than a thousand government officials, students and residents, marched three kilometers to launch the ordinance and declare Amlan a smoke-free zone.

Negros Oriental Governor Emilio Macias II, himself a non-smoker, lauded the town for being the first in the region to pass an ordinance that protects the health and safety of its more than 22,000 constituents.

Although the ordinance provides a space for those who’d prefer not to fight their nicotine addiction, it also makes unlawful for anyone to smoke in areas where they can harm those who opt to leave a smoke-free life. Repeat violators can be fined and imprisoned for endangering the lives of people who do not smoke.

It also creates a task force that will oversee the implementation of the measure in all public and work vehicles, Amlan being among the transportation points in the Visayas region. (Amlan has a port that caters to fast crafts and ro-ro ferries to and from Cebu Island.)

Help is also on its way to those who decide to quit as the town, in cooperation with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, intends to establish a healthy living clinic. Those who’d want to change their lives can go to the clinic and seek psychological and medical help to get rid of the habit.

COSTLY OPERATION

The government executives agree that Councilor Tubac was lucky when he went through the successful quadruple heart bypass operation.

They also agreed that the government may not be able to raise the funds to help all those who succumb to the diseases brought about by years of smoking.

Tubac recalled that he spent more than P1 million to go through the operation.

“Everyone came to help me after learning that my condition was so serious that I have to be brought to the Philippine Heart Center in Manila,” he said.

The quadruple bypass could guarantee him another 10 to 15 years of life.

“But I could also lose that guaranteed time. One stick of cigarette can spell the difference between life and death for me,” Councilor Tubac said.

When the ordinance was launched, Mayor Dela Cruz reminded everyone of the lives that were already claimed by cigarette smoke in Amlan town.

“If you have a member in your household – a father, a mother, a tito or a tita who smoke – ask them to have pity on you. Asking them to have pity on themselves may no longer work because of their addiction. But if we ask them to have pity on us who do not smoke we may have a chance. Their smoke do not just harm them, it harms everyone around them,” dela Cruz told the schoolchildren who attended the launch.

He added that even the combined provincial and district funds may not be enough if all those who contracted a smoking-related disease will each need P1 million to survive.

Dr. Maricar Limpin, Executive Director of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), cautioned everyone that the tobacco industry will do what it can to keep its sales up and continue to reap hefty profits.

“They will come to you and convince you to let them continue with their business, as usual. They will even corrupt the Department of Education to maintain their foothold. Using the so-called corporate social responsibility, these tobacco companies will go to your schools and offer to feed the children or hand out something of use. Do not be fooled, this industry does not have a conscience. It is only after the marketing and public relations mileage to reap more profits and will not have any regard for your safety and health,” she said.

TOBACCO CONTROL

Governor Macias recalled that he was still a Congressman when Republic Act 9211 or the law regulating tobacco in the Philippines was passed.

“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. And that is why at 75, I am still active. Smoking is supposed to be dangerous for our health and yet our government, as with any other government in the world, did not stop the production of tobacco because of the taxes derived from it. But if we look into the matter intently, we will find that the taxes we earn will not be enough even to pay for the expenses of curing those that contracted the diseases from smoking,” he said.

Macias, a physician, warned people that smoking doesn’t kill swiftly.

“The killing will be slow and painful. It is not the kind of product that would kill you instantly. I hope that those who smoke will realize that smoking is not about being stylish, smoking simply means death,” he added

Pastor Charles Nogra of the Seventh Day Adventist Church also reminded people that “there is no safe amount of smoke.” The SDA is among the churches in the world that espouses healthy living and prohibits members from smoking.

Dr. Asuncion Anden, Director of the Department of Health’s National Center for Health Promotion and Dr. Judita Tawatao, Chief of the Central Visayas Health Office, also attended the event to recognize the efforts of Amlan town. They gave a plaque of recognition to the town, being the first municipality in the Central Visayas region to have passed an anti-smoking ordinance.