For any parent, losing a child is painful especially so if the cause of death is something that can be avoided. For former President Fidel V. Ramos and his wife Amelita, the loss of their second daughter Josephine or Jo is even more aching.
The former president and his wife had been smokers for years, but later decided to quit. Jo, however, did not. Never! Late last year, the presidential daughter who excelled in music and sports was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer due to heavy cigarette smoking.
Even as we condole with the bereaved parents, it is never too late to remind any and everyone who still has not managed to kick the habit to quit while still ahead. The perils of smoking are well-known, and the cost of smoking-related illnesses is not cheap.
Cheap and easily accessible
In this country, the high incidence of smoking even more so with the young is attributed largely to the cheap selling price of cigarettes. This is a country which allows the selling of cigarettes that are not only so affordable but also easily accessible to just any person.
Data shows that cigarettes sold in the Philippines are among the cheapest in the world. This pricing structure attracts more people in the lower income levels who ironically can least afford the high cost of treating dreaded diseases associated with smoking.
In a recent report published by the World Health Organization and the Department of Health, there were about 87,600 Filipinos last year who had died of illnesses and complications attributable to smoking and second-hand smoke.
Economic cost
This translates to about P150 billion in losses that include not just the cost of medicines and hospitalization, but also lost economic productivity that literally went up in smoke when the affected individual was not able to work and be positive contributors to the economy.
According to a study done by several academe personalities from the University of the Philippines, the country has 17.3 million adult smokers, making us as having one of the highest smoking prevalence rates in the world.
Our smoking population is ranked twelfth highest among males, and fifth among females in the world. The paper also talks about the growing population of youth smokers, which has increased by almost 40 percent during a span of four years.
Even if there is a law prohibiting sale to minors, at least a fourth of our youth has started to smoke. According to the 2000 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, there are even cases of children younger than 10 years old who have started to pick up the filthy habit.
Wasted efforts
For years, the government has been trying to curb an increase in smokers and to discourage those who smoke by making them aware of the damage caused by tobacco not just on their bodies, but also on other people who are exposed to cigarette smoke in the air.
In fact, there are laws that compel cigarette manufacturers to print big warning signs on packs and cartons. But these apparently go unnoticed by those who continue buying cigarettes, and worse, by those who are enticed to pick up the habit.
Even local ordinances in some cities that ban smoking inside buildings and in public areas are not deterrents. Instead, you see the rabid smokers indulging in their debilitating habit in crowded, glass-enclosed smoking lounges.
All these efforts and many more that we have not mentioned seem futile and a waste of precious resources. The tobacco epidemic continues to rise and claim more lives while causing huge losses for our nation.
Raising prices through higher taxes
To raise cigarette prices seems to be the last – and perhaps the best – remedy for this long-standing malady. WHO and DOH have come up with a strong statement calling for an increase in cigarette taxes, but changing the existing tax structure on cigarettes and tobacco will even be better.
Several legislative measures are currently pending in Congress. These aim to correct the existing excise tax for tobacco products and to remove current protectionist provisions.
Currently, the cigarette excise tax structure has four levels depending on the net retail price per pack: low-priced, medium priced, high priced, and very high priced.
RA 8424, which governs cigarette taxes, however protects cigarette brands listed in its so-called Appendix D by allowing these cigarettes brands to pay the lower excise tax based on their 1996 retail prices.
14-year old arbitrary protection
This current excise tax scheme which provided the “14 year old” arbitrary protection to brands that account for 90 percent of the cigarette market has been the main reason why the Philippines has one of the cheapest prices of cigarettes in the world, which ultimately contributes to the high growth rate in youth smoking and the high cost of public health care.
Graduated reform
In reforming the excise tax structure, what is needed is to remove the existing price classification freeze, and then shifting from a multi-level system to a single tax structure. It is also in the interest of government to peg taxes to inflation, and if possible, on income growth while allowing for gradual three-part increases in the excise tax.
The first stage, which could be implemented next year, would entail removing the 14-year-old arbitrary price classification freeze, and reduce the existing tiers from four to three through a series of legislative and executive initiatives.
The higher tobacco taxes alone would allow the government increase its overall take. This is precious money could be channeled to many public health initiatives related to smoking-related illnesses.
The least that our president could do, if he is not yet ready to quit smoking, is to give other Filipinos the chance to have healthier lives by setting up price barriers so that less people will be able to afford smoking.
Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.