A tobacco control bill was first named to the House of Representatives’ list of priority legislation for deliberation and passage in 2009 — and there it smoldered until last October, when it was abruptly dropped from the list.
Rohani Budi Prihatin, a House staffer who helped draft the “bill to control the health impact of smoking products,” fears legislators are unwilling to revive it over concerns its passage could hurt industry players.
“The draft is ready, we finished it a long time ago,” he said. “But as you can see, no House members want to discuss this. All of them remain tight-lipped.”
Ignatius Mulyono, chairman of the House Legislative Body, said the legislation needed to undergo major revision.
“When will it be back on the list? When they review the substance and title of the bill, because it’s very biased toward the anti-tobacco lobby,” he said. “None of the parties supported the bill, so we had no option but to drop it.”
