MANILA, Philippines—Tobacco control advocates trooped to the Manila North Cemetery on Friday to light candles for dead smokers and to dramatize their demand for a stricter tobacco control.

"The number of deaths from tobacco-related diseases since a bill seeking for the enforcement of graphic health warnings on cigarette packs was filed in Congress in December 2007 has already reached 75,840," according to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance of the Philippines (FCAP).

"And the death toll increases by 240 every day," it added.

FCAP led advocates from various youth and urban poor organizations in asking the government to prioritize tobacco control measures, including the passage of the Graphic Health Warning Bill now pending in Congress.

They gathered signatures from cemetery visitors who support the immediate passage of the bill.

Graphic health warnings showing the ill-effects of smoking, such as photographs of severely damaged lungs or a malnourished baby, on cigarette packs have been found to be among the most effective ways of curbing tobacco use, said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP's executive director.

She added that several countries, including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, have already implemented such health warnings.

FCAP also cited a study made by the World Health Organization which found a link between poverty and tobacco use.

The WHO study said that of the 1.3 billion smokers in the world, 84 percent live in developing countries, and that the poor actually smoke the most. Such a habit is directly affecting the total household expenditures, it added.

"Many smokers have neglected the basic needs of their families because of their addiction to tobacco use," added Elenita dela Cruz, education assistance program coordinator of Sama-samang Komunidad ng Paco-Pandacan (SKPP). "Smoking and tobacco use, while often seen as a harmless habit by some smokers, push the poor even deeper into a vicious cycle of poverty."

Dela Cruz also pointed out that tobacco use diverts resources from food and other basic necessities and the adverse effect on the health of family members adds additional strain on the family budget.

The tobacco control advocates also took to task legislators who, they claimed, were blocking the passage of the bill apparently because of the strong lobby efforts by tobacco companies.

"By blocking the passage of the bill, these legislators are virtually condoning the deaths of tens thousands of Filipinos every year. Likewise, they are depriving us -- -the youth -- from much-needed public funds that have been senselessly used on diseases caused by smoking," said Mia Placio, a Sangguniang Kabataan leader from Paco, Manila. (Inquirer News Service)