In 2022, Republic Act (RA) No. 11900 — the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, commonly known as the Vape Law — opened the Philippine market to e-cigarettes, vapes and other newer tobacco products, with its authors claiming the measure contained safeguards to protect minors. Four years on, tobacco control advocates say the law has not deterred young Filipinos from nicotine use, which disrupts adolescent brain development and impairs learning, attention and impulse control.

Writing for BusinessWorld's opinion page, Irene Reyes and Cyresse Achilleos of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) challenge the industry's positioning of e-cigarettes as harm-reduction tools to help adult smokers stop smoking. Population-level data, they note, do not support e-cigarettes' effectiveness as a smoking cessation tool and show that their use may dampen cessation attempts and even increase the risk of smoking relapse.

Contrary to industry claims that newer nicotine products are aimed at adult smokers, the authors contend the products are expanding the youth nicotine epidemic. Data from the University of the Philippines Manila National Institutes of Health's health promotion program reveal that vaping is now the most common form of nicotine use among Filipino students, with a significant number engaging in dual use of e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes.

National surveys underscore the scale of the shift. E-cigarette use among adolescents rose from 7.5% in 2021 to 39.9% in 2023, according to the 2023 National Nutrition Survey (DoST-FNRI, 2024). The 2024 Global Youth Tobacco Survey found total tobacco smoking increased from 10.1% to 13.5% — 7.1% use cigarettes and 7.4% use heated tobacco products, devices that heat processed tobacco rather than burning it — while 12.8% use e-cigarettes. More alarmingly, 55.8% of students started using heated tobacco products and 22.4% started using e-cigarettes before they were 10 years old.

Despite legal age restrictions, more than half (56.2%) of student smokers bought cigarettes from retail stores, mom-and-pop stores or street vendors — a purchase pattern that points to weak age-verification at the point of sale.

On flavors, the Vape Law prohibits "flavor descriptors that are proven to unduly appeal particularly to minors," specifically those referring to fruit, candy brands, desserts or cartoon characters. That provision coexists with an existing ban under the Sin Tax law (RA No. 11467) on all flavors except plain tobacco and plain menthol, creating confusion the industry has exploited. The overlap required the Department of Justice to issue a legal opinion (Opinion 8, s. 2025) affirming that the flavor ban under RA No. 11467 remains in force.

This year, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that Filipino youth reported being targeted by an abundant variety of flavored products, especially sweet, fruity or candy varieties. Flavors also neutralize the harsh throat hit of nicotine, making it easier to inhale and conditioning developing adolescent brains for lifelong addiction.

Substantial evidence shows that flavored e-cigarettes pose health risks. Flavors such as menthol/mint, cinnamon, mango and vanilla have triggered inflammation, cellular damage and cardiovascular changes in animal studies, and respiratory symptoms, reduced lung function and DNA damage in oral cells in humans.

The US Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) has stated that "manufacturers and marketers of vaping products and all other flavored tobacco products, and flavor manufacturers and marketers, should not represent or suggest that the flavor ingredients used in these products are safe because they have FEMA GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe program) status for use in food because such statements are false and misleading."

The authors argue these findings show e-cigarettes remain widely accessible to Philippine youths and that existing restrictions are insufficient and ineffective in safeguarding young people from nicotine addiction. This is why Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong is advocating for a ban on vapes. Baguio City has been a model for strict enforcement of its smoke-free ordinance, winning the Gold Award in this year's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Smoke-free Awards, but it faces not only enforcement challenges with e-cigarettes but also their use for illegal drugs.

Neighboring Singapore, one of eight ASEAN countries that bans e-cigarettes, shares that position. Singapore's Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung has expressed hope that ASEAN could unite toward a complete vape ban, stressing that while governments can tax vapes, the health harms and societal costs far outweigh any fiscal revenues.

Rather than shifting the responsibility for restraint onto young people, who are particularly susceptible to chemical dependence, adults and policymakers have a duty of care to protect the youth — the hope of the nation, in Jose Rizal's words — rather than leaving them drowning in smoke.

As ASEAN chairman — a rotating post whose holder helps steer the bloc's agenda — the authors argue, the Philippine government should prioritize the region's collective welfare. While working to reduce cigarette consumption, prohibiting e-cigarettes in the Philippines, combined with stringent border controls and local enforcement, would safeguard both national and regional public health. The markers to watch next are practical ones: whether Opinion 8, s. 2025 translates into consistent enforcement of the flavor restrictions on the ground, how the government responds to the ban call, and whether ASEAN members converge on the coordinated prohibition Ong Ye Kung has urged.

Failing to implement a ban on e-cigarettes, they warn, risks allowing the products to become as entrenched and widespread as conventional cigarettes and normalizing addiction in the eyes of youths. A comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes and all nonmedicinal nicotine products would save future generations from nicotine addiction and ensure a healthier Philippines; anything less constitutes a failure to protect the nation's youth.

Irene Reyes and Cyresse Achilleos are with the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), a multisectoral nongovernmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties. www.seatca.org