‘Lower tax could encourage youth to smoke’

MANILA, Philippines — More young people nationwide are likely to smoke because the increases in tobacco taxes as approved by the House of Representative’s ways and means committee are also minimal, anti-tobacco advocates warned yesterday.

Fatima Lorenzo, Philippine Association of Patient Organizations (PAPO) president, projected that this minimal increase could lead to 150,000 more people smoking.

Sigaw ng Kabataan president Ellirie Nicolas Aviles agreed as he cautioned the government that a significant number of these new smokers would be young people.

“As a national federation of youth organizations we are concerned that more young people will be lured into taking the deadly vice of smoking because cigarettes remained to be affordable,” Aviles pointed out.

Lorenzo said the Philippines, with its 17 million smokers and more than 240 people dying of tobacco-related diseases daily, is among the countries in Asia with the highest smoking prevalence.

“Smoking is a common risk factor for the top three causes of disease in the Philippines which are heart disease, cancer and pneumonia,” she said.

The high prevalence of smoking-related diseases, she added, would not be averted with the minimal increase in tobacco taxes.

New Vois Association of the Philippines (NVAP) president Emer Rojas said it would also be difficult for the government to fully implement and achieve the targets of universal health care for all Filipinos if there were not be enough money to fund the program. 

“While this is a step forward towards the achievement of universal health care the victory was immediately snatched when the Lower House’s Ways and Means Committee decided to favor the tobacco industry and approved a measly P2.50 increase in tobacco tax per year, an amount even lower than the Train Law tax on tobacco endangering the swift implementation of the UHC which could have been a triumphant event for health,” Rojas noted.

Under the proposed measure, the tax of cigarettes will cost P37.50 per pack starting July 2019 and will thereafter increase by P2.50 every year until 2022 when a pack would cost P45. 

The small revenues that would be collected from these “miniscule” adjustments in tobacco prices, Rojas said, would not only create a funding gap in achieving universal health care but also increase the risks of more Filipinos taking up smoking and dying prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.

Federation of Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines (FSCAP) past president Jorge Banal said a failure to provide appropriate funding for the much-needed universal health care program would greatly prejudice senior citizens.

“It is vital for senior citizens in remote provinces to have access to medical and emergency services which, without universal health care, will be difficult to avail of,” Banal said.

Based on estimates, P257 billion is needed to implement Universal Health Care. But with the current budget and funding from Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office amounting to P93 billion, anti-smoking advocates said, there is a funding gap of P164 billion.