DOH: Higher taxes 'most effective' way to curb smoking, drinking

MANILA, Philippines— The Department of Health on Tuesday said that imposing higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol products is an effective way to lower the number of smokers and alcohol drinkers in the country.

"There are many ways of decreasing the consumption of tobacco and alcohol but it has been proven worldwide that the best practice, the best and most effective way to do it is really to increase the prices by increasing the taxes," DOH Undersecretary Rolando Domingo said in an interview with CNN’s "MedTalk".

"The higher the taxes are the less people who will be able to consume and afford these products, and it will have better health benefits for all of us," he added.

Last week, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, in a closed-door meeting with senators, appealed for the passage of new round of "sin" taxes before the 17th Congress adjourns in June.

READ: DOF prods Senate: Increase sin taxes

The Department of Finance proposed to add P60 excise tax on every pack of cigarettes and additional P40 excise tax for every liter of alcohol. He cited the need to fund the Universal Health Care law in pleading for the excise tax.

Fewer smokers after 'sin' tax raised

The government implemented the Sin Tax Law measure in 2013.

The DOH said that helped lowered the smoking prevalence in the country to 23 percent from 29 percent.

Domingo added that the money collected from the measure helped the DOH build hospitals and pay medical bills.

"It worked really well for the first five years, but now people are earning so much more money it's more than a tax increase, so the young children who couldn't afford cigarettes before can afford it with their allowance because the prices have not gone up in the past five years," Domingo said.

The DOH is expecting around 200,000 new smokers every year that’s why it is pushing for imposition of higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

He said cited that the government spends around P210 billion every year to treat patients with decease caused by tobacco so he said decreasing the number of smokers would also lessen the government’s cost.

"Sin taxes work for everybody. We're here to protect your health — we want you to indulge less in products that will kill you and at the same time get the money that will help us give universal healthcare to all the Filipinos," he said.

Dominguez and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a joint statement said that raising the taxes would “close a cumulative funding gap estimated at around P426 billion over the next five years for the full and proper implementation of the Universal Health Care program.”

READ: DOH, DOF make final push for higher sin taxes

Duterte signed UHC program into law last February. Under the law, all Filipinos will automatically be enrolled in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. —Rosette Adel