MANILA -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order that will impose a wide-ranging ban on smoking in public, reinforcing some of the toughest anti-tobacco measures in Asia. Duterte, a firebrand leader most famous for waging a war on drugs in which thousands of people have died, had promised immediately after becoming president last year to introduce the smoking ban as part of a range of measures to impose more order on society. Other measures included a ban on singing karaoke at night and a 2 a.m. curfew on drinking alcohol in public, although these have yet to be implemented. The Philippines already has a ban on tobacco advertising and smoking in indoor public places, as well as a law that requires graphic images of smoking health hazards to be printed on cigarette packaging. There are also hefty taxes on smoking.

Source: The China Post May 19, 2017 04:52 UTC