(Eagle News)–The Senate committee on ways and means has approved the proposed bill to increase the taxes on alcohol products and heated tobacco products such as vape and e-cigarettes.
It was Senator Pia Cayetano, committee chair, who endorsed committee report number 6 or Senate Bill No. 1074 signed by 11 senators to the plenary.
According to Cayetano, the senators, in proposing to increase those taxes, considered a World Health Organization report that said that out of 100,000 Filipinos, 4500 had liver cirrhosis, over 16000 were hypertensive and had tuberculosis because of drinking.
“Alcoholism is associated with at least 39 main diseases, including liver cirrhosis, cancer, pancreatic disease, hypertensive disease, tuberculosis, diabetes, and even behavioral and psychotic disorders,” Cayetano said in her speech.
She added from 2016 to 2018 , there have been 10,372 road crashes due to alcohol consumption.
“Nowadays, we talk about drug addiction as we would any other serious disease. Yet, how many of us talk about alcoholism in the same way?” Cayetano asked.
If passed, the proposed bill will amend the National Revenue Code of 1997 for the increase in taxes on those select products.
There will be a 5 percent increase in the prices of e-cigarettes and a ten percent increase in the prices of alcohol every year effective the first day of January 2020, under the proposed bill.
Cayetano said under the proposal,the government can collect from P40 billion to P50 billion from the increased taxes.
She said the funds would be used to treat beneficiaries under the Universal Health Care Law. Meanne Corvera
