The Senate is now ready to proceed to the period of individual amendments after two weeks of grueling interpellation on the committee amendments of the Sin Tax measure ended on Wednesday night.
Senator Franklin Drilon, acting chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, said the Senate will proceed on Monday to the period of individual amendments on Senate Bill 3299.
â€Because of the peculiar circumstances that happened here, in accordance with our procedures, what we did was to close the period of interpellations on the original committee report,†Drilon said, referring to Senator Ralph Recto’s Committee Report 411.
â€Then, having closed that, we now proceeded to the period of the individual amendments and to the period of committee amendments.
On Wednesday night, the Senate closed the interpellations on the committee amendments which the senators accepted and adopted as a substitute bill.
Drilon said the Senate is eyeing to approve on third and final reading on Monday.
â€The procedure is we accept it and if there no objection, it (committee amendments) will be included as part of the bill. If we do not accept it then a vote is taken,†Drilon told the media after six hours of debates on Wednesday.
During the period of interpellations, Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. expressed deep concern on the possibility that illicit trades of cheap cigarettes and alcohol products will take over if the Sin Tax bill targets to collect P40 to P45 billion revenue in the first year of implementation.
Records show that in many countries like Romania, New York and United Kingdom, illicit trades increased due to higher tax rates on alcohol and tobacco products, Marcos said.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile focused questions on the concerns on the possibility that many tobacco farmers and workers will be affected as a result of higher taxes on sin products.
Drilon, however, allayed the fears as he assured that Senate Bill 3299 or An Act Restructuring Excise Tax on Tobacco and Alcohol Products will have minimal effect on the tobacco farmers.
Drilon said an additional P6 billion will be allotted for the tobacco farmers as well as workers in the cigarette industry that will be displaced if the measure will be enacted into law.
He explained that cigarette manufacturing companies are “highly-mechanized†thus, the effect would be minimal to the workers.
â€Cigarette manufacturing sector is fully mechanized and thousands are being produced by the hour. So the effect on the manpower requirement would be minimal,†Drilon said. - PNA
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