Lawmakers told: Go easy on ‘sin’ taxes

A lawmaker on Wednesday said that Malacañang’s move to reform “sin taxes” should strike a balance between the state’s goal of increasing revenues and the local industry’s ability to survive with higher costs.

During a hearing of the House ways and means committee, Assistant Majority Leader Magtanggol Gunigundo said some legislators were not too keen on House Bill No. 5727 authored by Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio A. Abaya because of the punitive increase in taxes on alcoholic drinks and tobacco products in five years.

“HB 5727 should not just be designed to raise revenues but also give local industries room to survive and let our workers make a decent living. We fear the proliferation of bootlegging where the quality of liquor cannot be assured and taxes not collected,” said Gunigundo.

Hundreds of tobacco farmers and workers from local distilleries staged a protest Wednesday during the second day of hearings for the proposed sin tax reforms pushed by Malacañang to boost revenues.

Ilocos Sur Representative Ryan Luis Singson said the committee should consider the alternative bill drafted by the subcommittee on revenue generation as he expressed doubts on the viability of the government’s plan to provide livelihood projects to affected tobacco farmers in Northern Luzon.