Former cabinet members push 'sin tax' reform measure

MANILA, Philippines - Former secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Finance (DOF) yesterday signed a manifesto in support of House Bill 5727 or the sin tax reform bill, saying health should come before trade.

In a press conference, former secretaries Esperanza Cabral and Alberto Romualdez of DOH and former secretaries Margarito Teves and Ernest Leung and former DOF Undersecretary Milwida Guevarra have underscored the need to restructure the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol products in the wake of a rising number of ailing Filipinos.

Cabral said the revenues generated by cigarettes are not enough to cover health expenditures and loss productivity of the smokers and those affected by second-hand smoke.

According to Romualdez, restructuring tobacco taxation should be sustained on a regular basis “until we reach the point when we can no longer reduce smoking prevalence any further.”

“For any given population, there is always a finite proportion that will continue to smoke no matter what – no matter how many regulation, no matter how much the cost. But you (will) want to make sure that we minimize the number only to those who can afford,” he noted.

Romualdez added that tobacco taxes should be “calibrated to make sure that there is really improving health among our people.”

The manifesto showed that the current excise tax on tobacco “continuously favors and protects certain brands, effectively resulting to unfair market competition, inefficiency and lower revenues for the government.”

It underscored the need to shift to “unitary taxation” to simplify the multi-tiered structure, which is prone to downshifting, does not discourage consumption of sin products and is difficult to administer.”

The experts said the Abaya bill is “good for public health” as “less tobacco and alcohol consumption leads to better health outcomes.” Aside from this, it will also protect the youth and the poor who are the targets of tobacco companies.

They claimed the bill would also generate more revenues for the government. On the first year of implementation, the government is expected to raise additional revenues worth P60 billion, of which, P30 billion is from cigarettes, P11 billion from distilled spirits and P19 billion is from beer.

“We contend that HB 5727 is pro-youth, pro-poor, pro-health, pro-farmer and pro – country. Thus, we urge our legislators to pass HB 5727. Let us act before it’s too late,” they added.   – With Iris Gonzales