China is the “bad guy” whether it is about tobacco or the virus

Sinophobia and tobacco. Mareng Winnie throws everything at China. In her Inquirer column today “A victory for tobacco, a defeat for our children”, Monsod writes…

Wasn’t China the source of the virus in the first place? Not only that, didn’t China try to cover up its virus situation in the second place?

The virus, indeed, came from them. The vaccine donations not donations but reparations. Even if there is no corroborative evidence that China deliberately created COVID-19 as a biological weapon. After all, this is what the US would like humankind to believe. They are now delving deeper into the origin of the virus.

Monsod goes to the extent of questioning Chinese vaccine efficacy even if it has been proven in real world conditions. All of this malingering sinophobia is geared towards keeping the Filipinos and the Philippines leaning toward the US. Never mind if it has treated both very shoddily since the archipelago was a colony after its purchase in 1898. Pax Sinica is what the Americans fear the most. The Chinese have never shown a penchant for hegemony outside of its borders, except Tibet. We must remember what suffering the country and its people went through during World War II. At this point, the Philippines has to do a balancing act as it is squarely in the middle of any potential conflict between the two powers.

As far as tobacco is concerned, leave it up to our esteemed lawmakers to flip. Nicotine delivery systems they’re now called.

Because the bill overturns some of the hard-fought reforms that protected minors from the deadly results of tobaccoʍe-cigs and vaping are just new ways to get tobacco into them. The most egregious is the lowering of the minimum age for access to e-cigarettes to 18, and allowing the products to be sold and advertised online.

Evidence had been presented to the legislators showing the harmful, deadly effects of e-cigs. But this was all ignored. A victory for tobacco. A deadly defeat for our children.

Monsod will start hitting at China pretty soon on this issue because the world’s factory is the cheapest producer of the same. Vape is a trend among the younger demographic. It’s a fad similar to the height of smoking in the 50s and 60s when it was alright to smoke even on TV talk shows or while performing. Think Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin with their ubiquitous cigarettes.

The government has taxed the max out of the traditional delivery system which has smokers turning to vaping as a cheaper alternative and a more impactful nicotine fix. But it’s an election cycle and our lawmakers need campaign funds specially since the virus has made it compulsory that the campaign goes digital.

Individuals should be allowed to choose their poison if you ask me. The debate about alcohol and tobacco is as old as humankind. On the plus side, a French study has proven that smoker’s are less likely to get infected by COVID-19. It has something to do about mucous membranes being active as opposed to non-smokers. Smoking, drinking and politics are all addictive. Choose your poison well.