Increasing the tax on tobacco products will help implement the newly signed Universal Health Care Act in the long term, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Universal Health Care Act earlier this week, and it will need about P257 billion in its first year of implementation, Duque said.
That will consist of money from membership contributions, the budget of the Department of Health, government subsidies and revenues from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Sin taxes, including those coming from tobacco products, will boost the government’s subsidy. Duque believes the Senate will soon pass a measure increasing cigarette duties as proposed by Senators JV Ejercito and Manny Pacquiao.
In other developments:
• The new Universal Health Care Act can shield Filipinos from financial risks due to illness as it guarantees equal access to quality and affordable health care goods and services, the National Economic and Development Authority said Friday.
• Reelectionist Senator JV Ejercito said Friday the Implementing Rules and Regulations to be formulated for the Universal Health Care Act and the Creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Act laws should be “faithful” to their noble intentions.
Ejercito issued the statement following Duterte’s signing into law the UHC (Republic Act 11223) and DHSUD (Republic Act No. 11201), two landmark measures that he spearheaded.
• Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said the country’s goal of “healthier Pinoys and Pinays” is now closer to reality with the UHC.
Hontiveros, vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography and co-sponsor of the law in the Senate, said the measure is a “key milestone in the efforts to make health services equally accessible, effective and affordable for all Filipinos.”
Ejercito proposed to increase to P90 the tax on each pack of cigarettes, while Pacquiao proposed P60.
Increasing the price of cigarettes could help save the lives of some 780,000 sick individuals and decrease the number of smokers by about 3.8 million within the next four years, he said.
