Most Rev. Ricardo Baccay of the Diocese of Alaminos, Pangasinan urged faithfuls to shun vices and be wiser in spending money that may be used in more fruitful endeavors.
Baccay noted developments in the sin tax law where lawmakers proposed House Bill No. 4144 which aims to impose higher sin tax rates.
“In addition to what Archbishop [Oscar] Cruz said earlier, if you smoke a pack of cigarettes daily, you more or less spend P45 each time. That equates to P1,350.00 a month that may be added to your family’s monthly spendings,” he said.
Earlier reports stated that Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz praised HB 4144 as a “pro-health” measure in his Radio Veritas program.
The vocal archbishop cited data from the Social Weather Station that 10 Filipinos die every hour daily from smoking-related diseases.
He said the government’s objective was to ultimately stop vices and urge citizens to spend their money on more important needs.
Archbishop Emeritus Diosdado Talamayan of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao, meanwhile, commended lawmakers for passing the bill as it aimed to help Filipino farmers in their livelihood.
Talamayan hails from Cagayan which is one of the North’s tobacco-rich provinces and where many churchgoers are tobacco farmers who depend on the crop to support their respective families.
He said the bill most of all discourages the youth from picking up smoking which could lead to other evil vices.
