TAX rates on alcohol must be significantly increased to make them less accessible to the youth, Senator Pia S. Cayetano said on Tuesday (November 5).
The chairperson of the Senate Ways and Means Committee stressed this as plenary debates resumed on Senate Bill No. 1074, which seeks to raise the excise taxes on alcoholic beverages and e-cigarettes, including heated tobacco products and vapes.
Responding to the interpellation of Senator Manny Pacquiao, a coauthor of SB 1074, Cayetano said, “What we want to achieve is [to significantly raise our alcohol prices] so that these are not so accessible to the most vulnerable: the children and youth.”
Cayetano also defended the tax rates proposed under SB 1074, which are notably higher than those approved by the House of Representatives and those recommended by the Department of Finance (DOF).
“What I have proposed is a rate that is higher than that proposed and passed in the House of Representatives. In fact, it is also higher than that initially showed to me by DOF. But both the DOF and DOH [Department of Health] now support my version,” she said.
The senator explained that, even with the P47.9-billion additional revenues that can be generated under her proposal, there would still be an P11.8- billion gap in the funding for the Universal Health Care (UHC) program.
Even if this gap were bridged, the UHC can only deliver bare minimum services because of the program’s huge funding requirement. As such, she said any additional health revenue should be welcomed to grant Filipinos better access to basic and specialized health services.
“We just need to visit one simple healthcare center to understand how much farther we need to improve . . . We see hospitals that are dilapidated, and can’t be repaired immediately,” Cayetano pointed out.
“Items like catastrophic illnesses, including cancer, are not covered by our UHC packages. In fairness to DOH and PhilHealth, every year they are increasing and improving their packages. But that is the nature of the problems they face because of the lack of funding… And because we are a country with more than 7,000 islands, it’s going to be very difficult to readily provide the kind of health care we dream of,” she added.
Meanwhile, Cayetano clarified that taxation alone cannot address the problems on alcoholism and cigarette addiction, stressing that it is just part of a more comprehensive plan to protect Filipinos’ health and well being.
“Taxation is not meant to be used as a lone preventive tool, but should be [implemented] along with other measures including education campaigns and advocacies,” she said.
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