MANILA - A ban on billboard advertising for tobacco products came into force in the Philippines yesterday amid a legal challenge by cigaret manufacturers.

The Department of Health has ordered local governments to enforce the ban by pulling down all outdoor advertising of cigarettes, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said. "While a war against cigarets is sweeping entire continents to create a tobacco-free world, we cannot be the last nation standing without the political will to take the necessary steps against tobacco advertisements," he told a news conference.

The Tobacco Control Act was passed in 2003 but the government chose to enforce it only four years later.

It prohibits the posting of leaflets, posters, and similar outdoor advertising materials except inside the premises of "point-of-sale" retail establishments.

It also regulates the packaging, use and sale of tobacco products. Violators face a 5,000-peso (about 111 dollars) fine and a prison term of up to a year.

Local tobacco manufacturers have filed suit to challenge the definition of what comprises the "premises" of these cigaret retailers.

Duque agreed the campaign would be "an uphill battle" due to the strong tobacco lobby in the legislature. Tobacco is commercially grown in the northern Philippines.

"We at the Department of Health, together with other advocates in the health sector, must stand strong against all pressures from the industry to undermine the existing laws on tobacco control in the country," Duque said.

Government data show smoking is linked to five of the top 10 leading causes of deaths in the Philippines, with up to 35 percent of the population considered as tobacco users.

Forty percent of Filipino smokers are adult men while 15 percent are children aged between 13 and 15 years old, the health department said.

Every year, 75,000 Filipinos die of tobacco-related diseases such as lung cancer, cardiovascular ailments, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.*AFP

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