Voting 20-0-0, senators approved Senate Bill No. 2233 that seeks to impose higher taxes on cigarettes in a bid to reduce smoking prevalence among Filipinos and raise crucial funding for the government’s Universal Health Care program.
The measure proposes to raise excise tax on cigarettes to P45 per pack next year, P50 in 2021, P55 in 2022, and P60 in 2023, with five percent annual increases thereafter.
Senate ways and means committee chairman Senator Sonny Angara said tax amendments on heated tobacco products and vapor products were likewise adopted.
These products will be taxed per milliliter as follows: P10 for 0.00 ML – 10.00 ML; P20 for 10.01 ML – 20.00 ML; P30 for 20.01 ML – 30.00 ML; P40 for 30.01 ML – 40.00 ML; P50 for 40.01 ML – 50.00 ML; and P50 plus an additional P10 for every 10 ML beyond 50 ML.
The Senate will transmit its version of the bill, which has been certified as an urgent measure by President Rodrigo Duterte, to the House of Representatives for review.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has committed to adopt and support the Senate version, which allows the 17th Congress to forego a bicameral conference committee.
Once the Senate and the House approved the measure, the enrolled bill will be transmitted to the President for his signature.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said their yes vote for the bill is “a vote in favor of the health of the Filipino people.”
“Every hour, 17 Filipinos lose their lives due to diseases related to tobacco. Tobacco is like a serial killer. Cigarettes kill not only its users but also those who are exposed to second-hand smoke,” he said.
Health advocates led by former PhilHealth director Anthony Leaachon and Antonio Dans of the National Academy of Science and Technology lauded the passage of the measure, noting that it serves as a perfect way to begin the National No Smoking Month this June.
Dans, however, acknowledged that funds raised by the current tobacco tax rates are not enough to cover the economic cost of smoking.
“Every year, the government loses around P 210 billion due to productivity losses, health care costs, and premature deaths caused by the top four tobacco-related diseases, namely lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease, and cardiovascular disease. The losses are significantly greater than the P106 billion collected from the tobacco tax revenue in 2017. This further emphasizes the need to raise taxes on cigarettes,” Dans said.
The Department of Finance said the measure will help fill the P62- billion funding gap for the UHC.
According to the Department of Health, 85 percent of the proceeds from excise tax is used to finance government health programs, of which 80 percent is allocated for UHC and 20 percent for improvement of facilities in government hospitals.
The remaining 15 percent of the proceeds go to livelihood programs and financial assistance to tobacco farmers.
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