MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has unearthed a 43-year-old presidential decree to justify its arrest of persons vaping in public, claiming that the Marcos decree defines vape as an air pollutant despite the fact that there was still no vaping device at that time.

Policemen have arrested 243 persons for vaping in public and confiscated 318 pieces of vapes or e-cigarettes as well as 656 vape juice tubes in 2,878 separate operations conducted in almost a week nationwide. Most of them were arrested in Central Visayas.

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At a press briefing on Monday in Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte’s two-year-old executive order for a smoke-free environment as basis for the prohibition on vaping in public and in enclosed spaces.

PD 984

He then cited to justify the arrest of vaping ban violators Presidential Decree No. 984, issued in 1976 by the late President Ferdinand Marcos, which amended a law creating a national pollution control commission.

According to Banac PD 984 “defines smoking and vaping as forms of pollution and are harmful, detrimental and injurious to public health and safety or welfare.”

The four-decade-old law, which was intended to strengthen the function of the national pollution control commission “to best protect the people from the growing menace of environmental pollution,” defines pollution.

Legal basis for arrest

It states: “Pollution means any alteration of the physical, chemical and biological properties of any water, air and/or land resources of the Philippines, or any discharge thereto of any liquid, gaseous or solid wastes as will or is likely to create or to render such water, air and land resources harmful, detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or welfare or which will adversely affect their utilization for domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational or other legitimate purposes.”

Banac maintained on Monday that PD 984 “provides the legal basis for arrest [of persons vaping in public].”

“Vaping in public is subject to warrantless arrest or apprehension since the legal purpose is to bring the offender to the police station for blotter and recording,” he said.

The PNP spokesperson advised persons with an opposing view to “go to court for a judicial review.”

He noted that there might not even be a need for the President to issue an executive order to ban vaping in public.

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