Cancer patients prod senators on sin tax

MANILA, Philippines - Children afflicted with cancer, some wearing masks and one on a wheelchair, patiently waited at the Senate halls yesterday to convince lawmakers to support a full-strength “sin tax.”

The group struggled along with a throng of media practitioners, the general public, and security personnel to catch up with the senators who were leaving the chamber in haste.

Lawmakers cornered near the elevators posed briefly for the cameras before making their escape.

But Anthony Leachon, of Manila Doctors Hospital who accompanied the children, said the effort was worth it.

Many child cancer patients are victims of second-hand smoke, he said.

Health professionals like Leachon and anti-smoking advocates fear politicians will agree to a watered-down version of the sin tax bill.

“This has been very chaotic. You have the cybercrime (law), you have reproductive (health bill), and then you have the sin tax,” Leachon said.

“But to me as a physician, or even an ordinary citizen, health is of paramount importance... this is human capital,” he added.

This week the Senate Committee on Ways and Means is set to present its report on Senate Bill 3249.

The physician said if passed unaltered, tax rates on tobacco and alcohol would raise close to P400 billion over the next four years.

A huge percentage of the amount would be used for the healthcare program, especially the poor.

“To me this is the most important healthcare bill the government will pass for many, many years,” Leachon said.

Bringing the children to the Senate was designed to disarm some of the politicians who had not been attending sessions on the bill.

“It’s been disheartening... when you’re on the edge of chaos you need leaders to step up to the situation and lead the country,” he said.

The current sin tax bill seeks to increase the cost of a packet of a leading cigarette brand from P30 to about P55.

The local tobacco industry has argued that the proposed increases need to be tempered to protect the livelihood of the country’s tobacco farmers.