MANILA, Philippines—The TobaccOFF NOW! Movement is celebrating International Youth Day 2025 with “Tropang TobaccOFF, Tara Na!”—a month-long series of events this August 2025 designed to mobilize young Filipinos to take a stand against the tobacco industry interference. This initiative further highlights the youth-created and youth-led movement’s mission of taking a firm stand against the different tactics of big tobacco brands targeting young people.
“Tropang TobaccOFF, Tara Na! actively calls on more Filipino youth to actively participate in the TobaccOFF NOW! Movement given that this really represents their collective voice since the beginning,” said Vonn Vincent Tanchuan, the movement’s Communications Lead. “The more young people we involve, the stronger we get as we continue our call towards the tobacco industry to back off from our lives, to back off from our future. We are very excited to engage with more youth leaders and more communities as we go deeper into this journey until the end of 2025,” he added.
Community Caravans and Advocate Gatherings
The month-long celebration features several key initiatives:
- TOURopa Caravans: The movement has already completed educational caravans in five initial areas—Quezon Province, Manila, Quezon City, Oriental Mindoro, and Pampanga, gathering a total of 800 attendees. These community-based efforts raise awareness about the movement’s mission and expose the manipulative tactics used by the tobacco industry to target young people. The caravans also tackle common misconceptions about various tobacco products, including traditional cigarettes, vapes, heated tobacco products (HTPs), and nicotine pouches. The caravans gathered commitments from young participants to become peer educators, and this initiative will continue to visit more areas nationwide until December 2025.
- Youth Hour 2025: Take Back Our Future: On International Youth Day, August 12, a special gathering will be held at Street Kohi in Quezon City. This event will bring together youth volunteers and advocates for an open mic night where they can share their advocacy stories and experiences. The goal is to inspire more young people to join the fight against the tobacco industry interference and support other important causes that matter to them.
Training the Next Generation of Advocates
To further grow the movement, two boot camps are scheduled this August to actively engage more young people:
- Community Patrollers Boot Camp: This four-day training will gather 30 youth leaders, storytellers, and advocates from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, coming from over 100 applications. Participants will learn to create their own localized campaigns and community activities, which will launch starting September 2025. These new Community Patrollers will receive small grants to kick-start their local initiatives, which may include community events, social media campaigns, art performances, radio guestings, and written articles, among others, all in collaboration with local organizations and partners.
- TobaccOFF NOW! Film Festival Boot Camp: Aspiring youth filmmakers will attend a five-day training and workshop to develop short films for the upcoming TobaccOFF NOW! Film Festival in December 2025. These films will The films are also expected to expose deceptive tactics and highlight the realities of tobacco and vape use among young Filipinos today.
For more information about the TobaccOFF NOW! Movement and its upcoming initiatives, please visit their social media pages @tobaccoffnow.
