METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES – To mark the National No Smoking Month this June, Positive Youth Development Network (PYDN) launched the “TobaccOFF NOW!” movement, a national initiative co-created with over 170 young people, on June 20, 2025, in Park Inn Hotel, Quezon City at the “Taking Back Our Future” event. The movement led by the youth integrates their insights, experiences, and ideas on how to protect their fellow young people from the tobacco industry’s influence and interference, empowering them to take action.
The campaign development started in March 2025 with co-creation workshops conducted in four (4) areas: Oriental Mindoro, Metro Manila, Iloilo, and Dinagat Islands. These were attended in person by 126 youth participants who provided key insights and ideas to make this movement come to life. It was supplemented by an online survey of 170 respondents nationwide, as well as message and creative identity testing through a survey and a series of FGDs.
The initiative responds to the alarming crisis of over 8 million global deaths annually from tobacco products. Additionally, the movement highlighted the critical situation in the Philippines, where a 2023 survey by the DOST-FNRI-led National Nutrition Survey (NNS) revealed 1 million new smokers and vapers among adolescents aged 10-19. With over 15 million Filipino adults smoking, the team asserts this is the result of the industry’s manipulative and deceptive tactics that create an environment where youth can get hooked through flavored products, sleek packaging, influencer collaborations, store accessibility, events, and social media marketing.
“Nang makausap natin ang mga kabataan, aware sila sa mga tactics ng industriya tulad ng sa flavors at packaging na appealing daw sa marami sa kanila. At willing silang sumama sa ating movement para protektahan ang kanilang kinabukasan,” said Jeannie Anne Maguad, Executive Director of Positive Youth Development Network. “As an advocate for the wellbeing of our young people, we want this youth-created and youth-led campaign to redefine their future – ensuring that they will live a healthier life.”
Vonn Vincent V. Tanchuan, the campaign’s Communication Lead, explained the movement’s message. “The TobaccOFF NOW! movement is a collective voice of the youth. This is the youth telling the tobacco industry that they are ready to take back their future. It amplifies the voices of Filipino youth speaking directly to their peers, their parents and guardians, the policymakers, their schools and community, and even to businesses about the world they want to live in. This world strongly rejects the tobacco industry and its products.”
In line with the launch, the TobaccOFF NOW! movement also established its online presence with an official Facebook page and accounts on Instagram and TikTok. These platforms are where people can learn more about the movement, get information about the manipulative and deceptive tactics employed by the tobacco industry that make the youth susceptible, receive updates on upcoming events and community partnerships, and most importantly, hear the voices of the young people directly as they continue to push back on industry interference.
This campaign will run until January 2026 and will have nationwide coverage. It aspires to reach 10 million young Filipinos and engage at least 10,000 youth leaders and advocates from the different communities of the country.
ABOUT THE TobaccOFF NOW! MOVEMENT
TobaccOFF NOW! is a youth-created and youth-led movement designed to reveal the manipulative and deceptive tactics of the tobacco industry, involving over 170 young Filipinos in the process. Its core mission is to engage the young people to call out the tobacco industry’s manipulative and deceptive marketing and sales tactics and hold it accountable, all while empowering them to reclaim their choices, their health, and their future.
The campaign aspires to reach 10 million young Filipinos and engage at least 10,000 youth leaders and advocates from the different communities of the country. Efforts will continue until January 2026 through the official TobaccOFF NOW! Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok pages, and the many nationwide events and activities, and community-based partnerships and collaborations including the establishment of the movement’s official youth community reporters.
Key Policy Goals
Through this campaign, the TobaccOFF NOW! movement hopes to influence policies that will protect the Filipino youth from the manipulative and deceptive marketing and sales tactics of the tobacco industry by:
- Increasing the minimum age of access to 21 years old for ALL nicotine-based products, including vapes, heated tobacco products, and nicotine pouches.
- Revisiting and strengthening distribution and partnerships regulations to ensure that nicotine products are NOT accessible to youth.
- Eliminating the different flavors to prevent and reduce youth consumption.
- Further strengthening bans on advertising, promotion, and sponsorships for ALL nicotine-based products.
- Making nicotine products more expensive by raising taxes.
