DOH-7 launches signature campaign for Sin Tax Bill

CEBU, Philippines - A total of P33 billion in additional revenues is expected to be generated once the Sin Tax Bill will be passed.

Filomeno Sta. Ana, Action for Economic Reform coordinator, said this yesterday in a press conference at the Department of Health (DOH) Region 7 Office. He added that the amount is on top of the P25 to 27 billion revenues that the Philippines is already getting from tobacco and alcohol.

“It will be a tough battle for us. Some senators may oppose or dilute the substance of the bill. What we want to happen is that they will even improve the bill,” he said.

DOH-7 has launched the signature campaign for the support of the Sin Tax Bill yesterday morning at the DOH Regional Office. Officials hope to get one million signatures to encourage the 24 senators to vote for the approval of the bill.

Once the bill is passed, proponents said, this will achieve victories “for the poor, for the youth, for health, for the economy, for tobacco farmers, for politicians and for the future.”

“This is historic for the region for it is the first time that we are doing a signature campaign at our own effort,” said Dr. Judita Tawatao, head of health promotion in the work places and schools section.

Sta. Ana, on the other hand, is advocating for the government to impose a uniform tax for all brands instead of what was passed in the Lower House, which will impose tax rates for some favored brands that are based on 1996 retail prices, so their tax is very low compared to new players.

“A complicated tax system is undesirable. We want to simplify the tax structure by just having one single tax for all the brands. We still be earning revenues but with less consumption among the consumers of these products,” he said.

Sta. Ana, who is also the project team leader of Bloomberg Tobacco Control Initiative, said that the Philip Morris-Fortune Tobacco Corporation is mounting an intense resistance to this bill to protect its monopoly as it controls 97 percent of the market.

According to Dr. Tawatao, the most important strategies to improve or bring down the prevalence of smoking among the youth, adults and even the women is to raise the taxes and prices of these commodities.

“Tobacco smoke is a human carcinogen. A stick of cigarette contains seven thousand chemicals and 69 cancer causing agents and more than 200 are toxic to our body,” Dr. Tawatao said. “One stick of cigarette takes 7 minutes away of your life. Tobacco use is a public health disaster.” she added.

DOH reminds that diseases caused by tobacco include heart attack, stroke, cancer, emphysema and diabetes. Aside from lung cancer, smoking also causes other organs of the body to be affected.  (FREEMAN)