When everything clears HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 08/16/2010

When everything clears

HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 08/16/2010 I don’t smoke. It’s not a confession, but a declaration, so that friends who do simply won’t (or at least fight the urge) to smoke whenever I, or other friends like myself who don’t puff poison, am around. I hate its smell that lingers, although I can live (and die later) with it, after some time. Call me passive, or simply tolerant, but yes, I can live with smokers. I tried smoking some eons back, but ‘twas not for me. My decision was for practical reasons: I didn’t want to spend more on cigarettes, I simply can’t stretch my always limited daily budget. Nobody has disproved findings about smoking being addictive, so I wonder if the Department of Health’s proposal to adopt the “Obama model” in increasing cigarette tax to P4.50 per stick, or P90 per pack, would not be staggering for smokers to continue on their habit, or addiction if you view it that way. What works in the US, however, may not work in RP. But the DoH mission is not to simply raise funds for government, but to slice a big number off the estimated 17.3 million of the Philippines’ 90 million population, who may quit or be turned off by every stick’s prohibitive price, like I did when I was introduced to it back in high school. Health and church activists are supportive of the idea, but none is heard yet from President Noynoy, who, based on accounts by those who know him, smokes in chain..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100816com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL True color showing FRONTLINE Pressure tactics FEATURE Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb: Experts at desert survival DIE HARD III Skewed ‘political capital’ idea FEATURE Chinese ‘gold’ brings Egyptians a little taste of luxury HE SAYS When everything clears SHE SAYS Smoking issue