Cancer patients hit cigarette manufacturer

MANILA, Philippines - A group of cancer patients and survivors yesterday hit the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Co. (PMFTC)’s plan to manufacture low-priced cigarettes to compete with a local brand.

In a statement, New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) president Emer Rojas said the scheme would defeat the spirit of the sin tax law, which seeks to address the country’s smoking epidemic.

Rojas questioned the PMFTC’s appeal before the Bureau of Internal Revenue to allow the company to come up with cheaper versions of its leading brand Marlboro “to level the playing field against local brand Mighty.”

“You have to remember that the primary objective of the sin tax law is to increase the prices of cigarettes so smokers will choose to quit and that in the long term we protect public health,” he said.

Rojas added if other players would be allowed to “produce low-priced cigarettes to catch up with others, then smokers would just choose cheaper brands instead of quitting.”

“In the end, you will not only perpetuate smoking but you promote it,” he said.

Rojas was referring to a letter of the PMFTC to the BIR last month requesting that the firm be allowed to manufacture four variants of its Marlboro products as low-priced cigarettes.

Marlboro is considered a premium brand and is taxed higher than Mighty, labeled as a low-priced cigarette product.

The PMFTC claimed that sales of Marlboro have dropped significantly because smokers are shifting to cheaper brands like Mighty as a result of higher levies imposed on premium brands.

It suggested that for the company to regain its dominance in the market, the government must allow it to come up with four low-priced variants of Marlboro.

Rojas said the move by the PMFTC, which used to control more than 90 percent of the tobacco market, is “deemed to undermine the health and revenue objectives of the law, if not to deceive the public.”

“There is something more than meets the eye on this move by PMFTC. If it comes out with cheaper Marlboro variants, it is possible that the public would think that the premium brand has returned to its original price and therefore smokers will continue to patronize it,” he added.

A pack of Marlboro costs P55, but in retail stores it can be purchased at four to five pesos per stick.

Mighty, on the other hand, is sold for just P35 per pack and is currently dominating a big chunk of the tobacco market as a result of the sin tax.

Approved in December 2012, the sin tax is expected to generate more than P36 billion at the end of this year, seven percent higher than earlier projected.