The World Health Organization on Monday presented to Baguio City the 2026 World No Tobacco Day Award, recognizing the city’s steep decline in smoking rates over the last seven years.
Dr. Florente Trinidad, representing the WHO, delivered the award and a certificate of appreciation signed by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Mayor Benjamin Magalong and the city’s Smoke-Free Task Force.
Trinidad praised the city’s “decisive and sustained actions in unmasking the appeal of tobacco and nicotine products and countering addiction through governance, culture, and community empowerment.”
The recognition stems from the enforcement of City Ordinance No. 34, a 2017 policy aligned with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that mandates 100% smoke-free public spaces.
Between 2018 and 2025, local officials conducted more than 300 educational campaigns, inspected over 5,000 businesses, and issued more than 2,000 citations to deglamorize tobacco use.
The efforts have yielded measurable results as smoking rates went down from 35.3% in 2018 to 8.9% in 2025.
“The prevalence of smoking in Baguio City is now a single-digit number, and you should really be proud of that,” Trinidad said.
The WHO award follows a Bloomberg Philanthropies recognition the city received last year.
Joshua Daniel D. Rivera, communications management officer for the Smoke-Free Task Force, said the back-to-back honors offer validation but also bring new responsibilities.
The city’s current enforcement focus has shifted toward electronic cigarettes and vapes, which make up the bulk of recent confiscations, Rivera said. He noted that the task force is prioritizing youth education to counter the rise of vaping.
Baguio is also expanding its reach beyond its borders.
According to Trinidad, the city is being tapped by other local governments through benchmarking programs and leadership training to help them replicate its anti-smoking strategy. Stesha Levi Tamangen | UC Intern
