Author Topic: Health advocates call on senators to block bill on two-tier cigarette tax  (Read 667 times)

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Health advocates call on senators to block bill on two-tier cigarette tax

MANILA, Feb. 22 (PNA) –- Various health advocates have appealed to senators and President Rodrigo Duterte to block the passage of a bill that seeks to impose a two-tier excise tax on cigarettes.

They said they are counting on the "independent thinking” of the senators and the open-mindedness of the President to see the many “disadvantages” of House of Representatives Bill (HB) 4144.

Under the bill, a pack of cigarettes that costs PHP11.50 or less would be taxed PHP32, while a pack that costs more than PHP11.50 would be taxed PHP36. The current law mandates the imposition of a unitary tax rate of PHP30 on all cigarette packs, regardless of price, starting this year. The unitary rate system is an integral part of the “Sin Tax Reform Act” passed by Congress in 2012.

In a press statement, president of the Philippine College of Physicians Inc. (PCP), Dr. Nenita Avena-Collantes, said the bill will jeopardize the President’s anti-smoking campaign because smokers and would-be smokers, especially the youth and the poor, will have access to low-priced cigarettes.

Collantes said it will also encourage tobacco companies to continue producing low-priced cigarettes to enjoy the lower tax tier.

“We appeal to President Duterte to adopt our counter proposal that will further increase the current unitary tax rate to PHP40 per pack,” she said in her statement, explaining that this will increase the price of cigarettes to PHP2.86 per stick on the average, marking an 85.7 percent increase from 2016 prices.

“Our proposal will more effectively complement the anti-smoking program and will further lower the smoking prevalence in the country. On the other hand, HB 4144 will result in cigarette price per stick of only PHP2.45 on the average, or only a 59 percent increase from 2016 prices.”

Smoking prevalence is expected to decrease from 23.3 percent in the National Nutrition Survey in 2015 to 21.2 percent once the proposed unitary tax rate of PHP40 per pack is adopted, she said.

“This will help avert 1.23 million Filipinos from smoking and potentially save 37,000 deaths among them. On the other hand, HB 4144 will lead to a 22.07 percent smoking prevalence, and help prevent 720,000 Filipinos from smoking and 22,000 lives saved from tobacco-related diseases,” Collantes said.

Pulmonologist Dr. Maricar Limpin, member of the PCP Board of Regents, said during a health forum held at Annabel’s Restaurant in Tomas Morato, Quezon City on Tuesday that they want their message to reach the President and the senators.

She lauded the Sin Tax Law as a “game-changer”, noting that for the first time in history, a big slice of the tax has gone to the Department of Health (DOH), benefiting indigents through PhilHealth.

Meanwhile, Dr. Raul Lapitan, president of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) feared that HB 4144 would drive the incidence of cardiopulmonary ailments, one of the top killer diseases in the country, to go higher.

Lapitan said it took 15 years for the Sin Tax Law to be formulated and all those years of fighting could go to waste once HB 4144 is passed.

In this respect, he said, the PHA is one with the medical community in opposing the passage of HB 4144.

The head of the Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine (PSGIM) likewise said they stand by PCP and the entire medical community in rejecting the bill.

“Republic Act No. 10351 or the Sin Tax Law is barely five years old and while we have already seen its significant benefits for our country in the form of the reduction in smoking prevalence and the generation of income for universal health care coverage, we believe that it could still do a lot more if we allow it to work," said Diana Tamondong-Lachica, president of PSGIM.

The health advocates also expressed alarm over the railroading of the bill at the House of Representatives.

They noted that it was passed on second reading by the House plenary last Dec. 7, only two days after the House committee on ways and means approved it. HB 4144 was then passed on third reading the following week, before the session paused for Christmas break.

“It was a record-breaking passage… I even want to check if there has been a similar quick passage (of bill) at the lower house,” Limpin said, adding that the “fight” is now with the Senate.

“We expect the tobacco companies to release even more money as the debate intensifies in the Senate and in the bicameral committee later,” Collantes warned.

“It is the lives and livelihood of our people victimized by the tobacco companies that we bring to your attention, Mr. President. We hope that the sense of higher purpose encourage our legislators to act and decide on this matter. We are one with you, Mr. President, in ensuring that the battle against smoking moves on in all fronts.”

The proposal to impose a PHP40 unitary tax rate on cigarettes is contained in Representative Joey Salceda’s HB 4575, which is still with the House committee on ways and means. (PNA)
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