WARNING: 16.3 million Filipinos still smoke despite deadly health risks

The acronym stands for five reminders:

L — Lumayo sa sigarilyo at tobacco products;
U — Umaksyon para sa wastong nutrisyon at ehersisyo;
N — Naisin ang malinis na katawan at kapaligiran;
G — Garantisadong proteksyon sa tulong ng bakuna; and
S — Sumangguni at magpacheck-up agad.

The DOH puts smoking first in its list of reminders—and for good reason. According to the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction’s 2025 report, 19.7% of Filipinos aged 15 and older were current smokers in 2024, or around 16.3 million people.

The figure was significantly higher among men, at 35.6%, compared with 4.2% among women. In 2021, smoking was also linked to 88,169 deaths in the Philippines, accounting for 10% of all deaths that year.

There’s no shortage of warnings. Cigarettes are taxed, smoking is prohibited in many public places, and packs carry graphic health warnings. Yet cigarettes remain easy to find in grocery and convenience stores, as well as the familiar tingi practice at suking tindahan, on the bangketa, or from takatak vendors.

And as smoking remains common, vaping has become another way people consume nicotine. Some users see it as a safer alternative, but “safer” doesn’t mean safe. The DOH warns that vaping can cause nicotine addiction, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, or EVALI.

In 2023, the Philippines recorded its first EVALI-related death involving a 22-year-old man who had no history of smoking, other vices, or underlying health conditions. He suffered a fatal heart attack, severe blockages in major arteries, and acute respiratory failure, which the DOH linked to his daily vaping habit for two years.

The DOH’s L.U.N.G.S. guide may be easy to remember, but the numbers show why the reminder still matters: for millions of Filipinos, protecting their lungs starts with putting down the cigarette—or vape.

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