Senate photo by Joseph Vidal
Senator Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday, December 12, reiterated his call to increase the excise tax on tobacco products to P60 per pack as he pushed for the Senate Bill No. 1599 to aid in the universal health care (UHC) bill.
According to Pacquiao, the increase in the excise tax will help reduce the number of deaths caused by tobacco smoking. The senator said that such a move will help alleviate the number of those who are negatively affected by the said products.
“My proposal will help decrease the total number of smokers in the country by one million before the end of president’s term. This goes to show that when the number of smokers in the country declines, the number of people getting sick because of cigarette smoking would therefore decrease,” Pacquiao said.
The boxer turned senator emphasized the importance of the healthcare bill especially among those who cannot afford their medical expenses. However, he noted that there should be a specific resource that would ensure that they have enough funding.
“UHC is a huge reform that would bring in significant benefits to all Filipinos, particularly the poor, but the government would be needing sustained funding resources to ensure that these promises are realized,” he added.
The reconciled version of the measure was approved by the congressional bicameral conference committee last November 27. Upon a consensus and ratification from the two legislative chambers — the Senate and the House of Representatives, the bill will be transmitted to President Rodrigo Duterte for signature.
“This would provide a big relief, especially to marginalized Filipino families. By discouraging them from buying higher-priced cigarettes, they would opt to focus on accounting for their basic necessities of their family, such as food,” the senator said.
“In the end, this would also lessen the chance of them acquiring tobacco-related diseases, that would result in health care costs causing a burden to the family,” he added.
