WE KNOW that tobacco and smoking is dangerous to overall health. It is also detrimental to oral health.
Now comes what critics call the “sabotage bill”, and health activists are calling for legislators to stop legislation that will roll back the gains of the Sin Tax.
“We object to lower tax rates on tobacco products,” said Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan, a former Health Secretary.
“It is a misaligned solution to curb illicit tobacco trade and shortfalls in tax revenues. Rather, we fear it will tragically lead to an upsurge in tobacco consumption and hike the risk of noncommunicable diseases, including cancer and heart disease,” said Tan, a Board Member of HealthJustice.
HealthJustice, a public health advocacy group which worked for the passage of the Sin Tax, urged a halt to further deliberations on a rollback in taxes for tobacco products.
“We challenge Senator Gatchalian to stand his ground and fight for the health of our nation and our youth until the Sin Tax Sabotage Bill is completely off the table,” said Tan. “We urge that he and other health champions in the Senate will strongly push back against tobacco industry influence and interests.”
Sen. Win Gatchalian, who heads the Committee on Ways and Means, has made public his position to effectively block House Bill 11360, described as the “Sin Tax Sabotage Bill” and reject tobacco industry manipulation until the 20th Congress.
HealthJustice highlighted the importance of harmonizing tax rates for tobacco as well as vape products.
“We support the move to impose a flat tax on all vapor products, regardless of nicotine content,” said lawyer Faith Laperal, Executive Director of HealthJustice. “We recognize this as a step forward. To be effective, tobacco tax systems and administration must be efficient, predictable, and easy to enforce.”
Last February, a proposed law was passed on third and final reading at the House of Representatives. It calls for alternating tax rate increases on tobacco products by only 2 percent and 4 percent starting 2026 to 2035, much lower than the 5 percent annual increase under the current Sin Tax Law.
“Far from promoting efficiency, the proposed alternating tax increases complicates what should be a straightforward fiscal policy tool,” Laperal pointed out.
“It increases the likelihood of misreporting, under-declaration, or compliance delays. Retaining a uniform annual rate or inflation-indexed mechanism would reduce administrative burden and safeguard against industry manipulation.”
The Philippines started health taxes in 2012, increasing the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products by more than 300 percent. The tax has grown incrementally each year, reaching an increase of as high as 1,000 percent by 2018. These taxes now increase automatically each year by 5 percent.
Tobacco use in the Philippines fell three years after the tobacco tax was started; it was down from 23.8 percent in 2015 to 18.7 percent in 2021.
Similar taxes were also applied in 2019 to alcohol and to electronic cigarette liquids and devices. The year before, in 2018, the government added a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages raising prices by 14 percent.
The Philippines use health taxes – excise taxes imposed on health-harming products like tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages – to help fund Universal Health Care or PhilHealth. In 2022, subsidies to PhilHealth were five times higher than they were in 2013.
HealthJustice also called on Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa to deliver on his commitment for urgent measures to address the damage caused by tobacco products. The commitment was made after he was elected President of the 78th World Health Assembly just two weeks before World No Tobacco Day on May 31.
“The scourge of tobacco remains one of the most persistent and preventable threats to global health, silently undermining progress across generations and contributing to the vast majority of noncommunicable diseases that now account for most deaths worldwide,” he said in a speech before the World Health Assembly. “As a global community and as champions of health we are called to urgently act, not simply with sympathy but with boldness and resolve to address these long-standing health challenges.”
Herbosa pledged “to align our investments with primary health care” to strengthen health systems and to confront the root causes of illness and reinforce interventions addressing social determinants of health.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim, Ed. D., is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology; and Founding Chairman of the Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515.
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Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI, graduated Doctor of Dental Medicine, University of the Philippines, College of Dentistry, Manila, 2011; Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management, De la Salle University, Manila, 2002; and Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019. He is an Associate Professor; Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists; and Fellow, Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail limdentalcenter@gmail.com/PN
