The Department of Health (DoH) announces Monday an administrative order mandating the use of graphic health warnings on the packages of tobacco products despite strong lobbying from the tobacco industry to stop its issuance.

In a statement, the Department of Health (DoH) said the tobacco industry “has been attempting to derail this issuance and have been approaching politicians and other personalities in order to prevent the Department’s formal announcement alleging lack of consultation with them.”

“Under Article 11 on packaging and labeling of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a three-year deadline from ratification was imposed and we are already two years behind schedule,” she added.

“Without preempting our formal announcement, what the Department intends to do is merely to comply with our obligations under an international treaty,” DoH Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral said.

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