DOH exec who quit smoking offers Noynoy advice

Quit cold turkey, and draw support from family and friends in getting rid of the smoking habit. This was the unsolicited advice given to president-apparent Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III by a government official who claimed to have succeeded in kicking the habit after 30 years. "Kailangan ng suporta ng pamilya at kaibigan. Kung wala, hirap ako tumigil manigarilyo (You will need the support of family and friends. In my case I would not have kicked the habit if I did not have such support)," Health Undersecretary Alexander Padilla said in an interview on dzXL radio Wednesday. Padilla admitted that his smoking habit lasted for three decades before he was able to quit. He said Aquino can be considered a "victim" of the tobacco industry, which he said entices people to smoke. Aquino earlier said he is not keen on quitting his smoking habit as of now, saying it would only present more stress thatd could affect his decisions. Quit cold turkey Padilla said despite the difficulty, the best way to eschew the habit is still through the cold turkey way, or stopping altogether. "Ako mismo ay tumigil ako after more than 30 years ng paninigarilyo. Talagang mahirap talaga i-break ang habit. Kailangan personal ang decision ititigil niya," Padilla said. (I stopped smoking only after 30 years. I can tell you it is very hard to break the habit.) He said the Department of Health (DOH) understands Aquino's position not to quit smoking for now. "Decision yan ng pangulo. Di naman namin minamasama kung di niya kaya sa ngayon. Pero sana nga darating ang panahon na talagang itigil. Ito ay para sa ikabubuti ng kanyang kalusugan," he said. (The decision is with him. We will not take it against him if he does not quit for now. But we remain hopeful he will eventually quit the habit. It is for his own good.) - KBK, GMANews.TV