Skip to content ↓
Vital Stories

Using Social Media for Grassroots Tobacco Control Advocacy in the Philippines

Our effort to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco in the Philippines is moving online, through social media.

Anti-tobacco advocates from across the country met in Manila for a three-day training course, to learn how to launch and manage grassroots social media campaigns against smoking and big tobacco in their local regions.

The three-day course focused on developing key messages in priority areas such as tobacco industry interference, smoke-free policies and their implementation, along with “sin tax” and tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS).More than 30 people from across the country attended the workshop, run in conjunction with and FCAP, the Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control in the Philippines.

48% of men and 9% of women in the Philippines smoke and 250 Filipinos die every day from disease brought on by smoking. Social media is an ideal avenue to reach out – 94% of internet users in the country use Facebook.

Special guest Roby Alampay, Vice President at national television network TV5 also spoke about using social media to reach out to journalists and engage with traditional media channels.Those attending learned about different types of media, along with how to set up their own Facebook page and Twitter account. The course also discussed how to create content then build an online following to raise awareness about key tobacco issues in their local area.

You can join their efforts and follow the conversation as we take tobacco advocacy online in the Philippines, using the hashtag #SmokefreePh