Philippines bags ‘Orchid Award’ from WHO for cutting ties to tobacco lobby

Talk about "quitting cold turkey."

Two years after getting the dubious "Dirty Ashtray Award," the Philippines was recognized on Tuesday, at a World Health Organization (WHO) conference in Seoul, South Korea, for excluding representatives of the tobacco industry from its official delegation.

The country was given the "Orchid Award" for excluding the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) from its delegation to the 5th Conference of Parties (COP5) of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), the group HealthJustice said on Tuesday.

The award was given by the Framework Convention Alliance, which groups 350 civil society organizations from 100 countries that work for the development, ratification, and implementation of the international convention against tobacco.

"This is a remarkable moment in the history of public health. We salute the President, the Department of Health and Civil Service Commission for upholding our obligations to WHO FCTC," said lawyer Irene Reyes, HealthJustice managing director.

Reyes noted that the Philippines was bestowed the "shameful" Dirty Ashtray Award in 2010 when its delegation "mouthed pro-tobacco industry interests at the COP4 in Uruguay."

Earlier this year, Corporate Accountability International also gave the country's Inter-agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T) its infamous "Marlboro Man Award" for giving the Philippine Tobacco Institute a seat in the committee, Reyes said.

Corporate Accountability International said this compromised the committee's "obligation" to protect the public against the harmful effects of tobacco, she added.

Reyes noted that the Conference of Parties was firm in ensuring that tobacco industry representatives "are kept at a safe distance."

She noted that Interpol, the world's largest police organization, was refused observer status at this year's conference due to reports that it received US$15 million from Philip Morris International.

"These are necessary steps to ensure that the Illicit Trade Protocol which has just been adopted is safeguarded against tobacco industry interference," Reyes said.

Health Justice said the Bureau of Customs had also refused to renew its partnership agreement with Philip Morris in accordance with a 2010 joint memorandum circular issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Health "to protect the bureaucracy from (tobacco) industry interference."

"We are hopeful to see the Philippines making great strides towards advancing public health as a priority. This is a true win for the Filipino people and for civil society who can look to a government that now recognizes that the preservation of health far outweighs any profit that the tobacco industry could provide," says John Stewart, Challenge Big Tobacco Campaign Director at Corporate Accountability International.

While congratulating the Philippine delegation for ensuring a tobacco industry-free team to the Seoul conference, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance director Bungon Ritthipakdee stressed that this should serve as a good practice for other Philippine officials and policymakers to emulate.

"Government officials and policymakers have the power to stop tobacco industry interference in their hands," Ritthipakdee said.

"As long as government consistently rejects the tobacco industry in activities and events such as attendance to the COP, this sends a a very strong signal that we are serious in halting their interference and manipulative tactics," Ritthipakdee added.

Inquirer 

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USA: In Southern California, Filipino restaurants crowd the strip malls

KAREN GIVEN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE. Treats from Filipino Desserts Plus.

NATIONAL CITY, California. — Last summer, Travel Channel host Andrew Zimmern predicted Filipino food would be the "next big thing" and that the Filipino food revolution would come from San Diego. But he got at least one detail wrong. Although thousands of Filipinos have come to this country through Naval Base San Diego, they have since settled in the suburbs.

Filipino restaurants and markets crowd low-lying strip malls on both sides of Plaza Boulevard in National City, a few miles south of downtown San Diego. They have names like Villa Manila, Jolibee, and Pinoy Ranch. Tita's Kitchenette is one of the most popular. On weekdays at lunch time, the line files out the door and down the sidewalk, as no-nonsense servers pile food high on Styrofoam take-out dishes and deftly encase side orders in plastic wrap. While some patrons find space in Tita's humble dining room, most are ordering to go.

The food, set out in a dizzying array of chafing dishes, is not labeled. Nor does the menu on the wall offer much help. At first glance, the choices are simple: a combo meal with rice or pancit (Filipino cut noodles) plus a few side items like lumpia (Filipino spring rolls) and barbecue skewers. For payment, the options are even more limited. "Cash only" reads a bold sign under the menu.

When faced with more than a dozen choices, none of which are familiar, and a crush of hungry locals waiting to be served, ordering can be difficult. The servers at Tita's don't like to be kept waiting, but they're not the least bit offended by newbies who don't call the dishes by their proper names. Tita's is known as a "turo, turo" restaurant, which translates to "point, point."

On a relatively quiet Saturday afternoon, less than half of Tita's green and yellow cafe chairs are filled, but the line still trails out the door. Our group, led by a second generation Filipino-American, "point, points" to two combos, one with rice and one with pancit, and to what seems to be a well-balanced selection of barbecue skewers, fish, and vegetable side dishes. The bounty, enough to feed four with leftovers for days, comes to just under $30, drinks included.

Our most daring choice, pusit (squid) prepared in vinegar, is neither as fishy nor as vinegary as expected. The dish is mild, flavorful, and slightly sweet . . . if a little chewy. The eggplant, on the other hand, tastes strongly of fish. The kitchen is apparently not stingy with the fish sauce in that dish.

For a sure bet, ask for the adobo, meat cooked in vinegar. On this day, beef is the only choice, but adobo is often made with chicken or pork. Sometimes considered the national dish of the Philippines, adobo draws on the island nation's geography and history, marrying soy sauce from China and a vinegar cooking method that some say predates three centuries of Spanish rule.

The barbecue is also delicious. It's grilled behind a large plexiglass shield in the main restaurant so the aromas tempt diners waiting to place their orders. The pork and chicken skewers are crispy on the outside and juicy inside, and like many Filipino offerings, the marinade is salty and slightly sweet.

Tita's has a few bakery items for sale, but there's a larger selection next door at Valerio's Family Bake Shop. Bags of pandesal are piled high on shiny metal racks. Super soft and, again, slightly sweet, these Filipino dinner rolls make a satisfying breakfast warmed and served with a little butter and honey. We buy a couple of bags, but the desserts are not what our guide had in mind. So we head back down Plaza Boulevard to a place called Filipino Desserts Plus.

KAREN GIVEN FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE. Pandesal rolls at Valerio's Family Bake Shop.

Desserts Plus isn't fancy, but every type of Filipino sweet seems to be crammed into the small space. We choose brightly colored packages of traditional two-bite treats. They include puto, soft and billowy steamed rice cakes, and kutsinta, orange-colored disks that are sticky and slightly chewy. There are even some rich-hued desserts made with ube, a purple yam.

By the end of the afternoon, our stomachs are full, our recommended daily allowance of sodium has been far exceeded, and our guide's kitchen is packed with leftovers. But if a trip to National City isn't in the cards, do like the 3.4 million Filipino-Americans do. Make something like adobo at home.

The Boston Globe

Written by: Karen Given can be reached at kgiven@hotmail.com.

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Filipino Desserts Plus

2220 East Plaza Blvd., 619-479-6748

Tita's Kitchenette

2720 East Plaza Blvd., National City, Calif., 619-472-5801

Valerio's Family Bake Shop

2720 East Plaza Blvd., 619-470-3742

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