Barkada pressure fuels youth smoking, drinking in W. Visayas

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY – The high prevalence of smoking and alcohol use among young people has raised concern in Western Visayas, which ranks among the country’s top regions for both health-threatening habits, according to the Commission on Population and Development Region 6 (CPD-6).

CPD-6 reported that 15.7% of youth aged 15 to 24 in Western Visayas smoke, making the region the second-highest in the country for youth smoking prevalence.

The region also ranked fifth in alcohol consumption, with 32.1% of youth in the same age group reporting that they drink alcoholic beverages.

The figures come from the Western Visayas regional profile of the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study, or YAFS, which CPD-6 presented at a press conference here Thursday.

“It is alarming because it is (smoking) the second highest. The mere fact [that we have that data], even if we have a lower count, it does not mean that it is okay,” Marshall said.

Marshall identified accessibility as one factor that could contribute to youth smoking and drinking, alongside peer and family influence.

“Our children have access. In the first place, they do not have access to things such cigarette and alcoholic beverages,” he said.

He said adolescents are at a stage where they seek independence from their parents and a sense of belonging among their peers.

That stage can make them vulnerable to pressure from friends who smoke or drink.

“Temptation is always but what pushes them to access smoking? The psychology of engaging in non-sexual risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking there is very deep,” he said.

“In the adolescent youth stage of life, you want to be independent from your parents, you want to belong to a group, a barkada and you will be influenced. If they smoke and you don’t, you will be called uncool. Then that puts pressure on a person who wants to be part of the group,” he added.

He said such pressure is not limited to smoking but can also influence young people to drink alcohol.

Marshall stressed, however, that accessibility does not necessarily mean young people will smoke or drink, only that it creates the possibility.

“If cigarettes or liquor or alcoholic beverages are easily accessible, then there is a possibility that they may engage,” he said.

He said providing young people with accurate information about the health consequences of smoking and drinking could also influence their decisions.

Marshall cited the Department of Health (DOH) campaign “Yosi Kadiri” as an example of a public health intervention aimed at discouraging smoking by influencing the decisions of young people and the general public.

The “Yosi Kadiri” anti-smoking mascot and campaign from the 1990s was created by the DOH to show the harms of cigarette smoking to smokers and nonsmokers alike.

The campaign was revived in 2019 alongside the push for higher excise taxes on tobacco, and again in 2025 as part of the DOH warning about vaping and its health risks.

Access to tobacco by minors is already restricted by law. Republic Act 9211, the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, prohibits the sale of cigarettes to anyone below 18 and bars sales within 100 meters of schools, playgrounds, and other places frequented by minors.

Republic Act 11900, the Vaporized Nicotine and Novel Tobacco Products Regulation Act of 2022, set 18 as the minimum age for buying vapes and heated tobacco products and moved regulation of those products to the Department of Trade and Industry, a transfer health advocates warned at the time would weaken enforcement.

Marshall acknowledged that restricting access to tobacco products remains difficult because of the size and financial resources of the tobacco industry, which allows companies to market their products extensively.

“It is up to us, the national government, local government, how we can manage and mediate our children accessing things such as alcohol and cigarettes,” he stressed. 

YAFS is the country’s largest series of nationally and regionally representative surveys of Filipinos aged 15 to 24. It has been conducted since 1982 by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation Inc.