House passes bill exempting medical oxygen, other medical supplies from taxes

FULL TANK As Metro Manila braces for the surge of COVID-19 cases, the Manila COVID-19 Field Hospital in Rizal Park gets ready with hundreds of oxygen tanks for good measure. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives approved on final reading the bill seeking to exempt critical medical supplies such as medical oxygen from all taxes during public health emergencies.

During Tuesday’s session, the lower chamber approved House Bill No. 8895 or the “Public Health Emergency Importation Tax Exemption Act” with 202 affirmative votes, zero negatives, and no abstention.

The bill exempts from taxes critical medical products such as vaccines and other necessary medicines. It also covers essential goods such as personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, face shields, and surgical equipment and supplies.

The exemption also covers laboratory and other medical equipment, alcohols, sanitizers, tissue papers, thermometers, hand soaps, detergents, sodium hypochlorite, cleaning materials, povidone-iodine; testing kits, and other supplies or equipment as may be determined by the Department of Health (DOH) and other relevant government agencies.

“The bill comes at a good time when we are in need of these critical supplies. This end-to-end exemption will help bolster our stock of critical supplies, such as medical oxygen,” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, one of the principal authors of the measure, said.

“This will save lives. It will serve as a ready mechanism for this president and future presidents to use when a public health emergency is imminent or in place,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he is considering talking with Congress about giving tax relief to manufacturers of medical oxygen, which he called a “vital component” in the country’s fight against COVID-19.

Earlier, a World Health Organization official urged the Philippines to ramp up its oxygen supplies amid the threat of the Delta variant.

READ: Duterte says he may ask Congress to give tax relief to medical oxygen firms