An independent academic-based consultancy firm scheduled a half-day webinar on two vital laws affecting taxation and regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages, alcohol products, tobacco products, heated tobacco and vapor products.
The event, set at 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Dec. 3, seeks to provide the public, particularly publicists and media practitioners, a deeper understanding of Republic Act 11346 and RA 11467.
The organizer, Center for Local Governance & Professional Development Inc., said the Dec. 3 affair forms part of its webinar series with the view of “raising awareness and further creating public value for several societal issues and concerns.” The forum would be conducted in a Kapihan format.
“More than two years have passed since the enactment of RA 11346 and nearly two years since the approval of RA 11467, but we have yet to truly understand its impact of the lives of common people and the Philippine economy in general,” the CLGDP said in a statement.
“Furthermore, an assessment of the implementation of its revenue goals and its contribution towards funding the Universal Health Care Law is called to contribute to the continuing quest for improving its tax system,” it said.
RA 11346 increased taxes on cigars and cigarettes and imposed excise taxes and regulations on e-cigarettes. RA 11467 amended the National Revenue Code to provide VAT exemptions for the sale and importation of prescription drugs and medicines for diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis, and kidney diseases. It also increased and simplified the tax base of the excise tax on wines and distilled spirits, among other provisions.
The forum is divided into two parts–the resource learning section and the question-and-answer section with members of the press.
Invited as resource speakers were Atty. Beverly Milo, executive assistant for large taxpayers service of the Bureau of Internal Revenue; Novel Bangsal, executive director of the budget and tax research bureau of the House of Representative; and economist Miguel Antonio Estrada.
The CLGDP defines itself as an “independent academic-based training and consultancy company dedicated to the promotion of exemplary public governance as a means to address fundamental issues in the fields of health, education, and social services including training and capacity building, consultancy services, and technical and policy research.”
