Govs reach consensus to support sin tax bill

MANILA, Philippines—The majority of the country’s governors have reached a “broad consensus” to support the administration-endorsed Sin Tax Reform measure pending in Congress seeking to restructure the excise tax on alcohol and tobacco products, according to the national president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP).

“Our decision to support this bill is premised on the following: that the proposed law will generate revenues to finance PPP projects, reduce smoking-related expenditures on health services, and save the country’s young and poor from lifestyle diseases,” said Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso “Boy” Umali, LPP head, in a press statement.

“We believe that now is the time for us to cross party lines and support this bill. The benefits to our people that would result from this law would affect an entire generation of Filipinos,” he said.

Umali concurrently heads the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the umbrella organization of the leagues of governors, city mayors, municipal mayors and barangay and other local officials.

The consensus was arrived at during a recent meeting in Manila of the LPP’s executive board, he said.

Umali also reiterated an earlier consensus of governors of tobacco-producing provinces to win support among congressmen for House Bill No. 5727 authored by Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya. The measure proposes a shift from a multi-tiered to a unitary tax system for cigarettes. Brands currently taxed P5 per pack under the existing would have to pay P40 to P45 in three years.

‘Level the playing field’

One of the bill’s most vocal supporters, Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson of Ilocos Sur, which is a leading tobacco-producing province, had earlier said HB 5727 would level the playing field by destroying monopolistic pricing and allowing the entry of more producers.

The sin tax issue has pitted Singson against the rest of the so-called Northern Alliance, which includes his own son, Ilocos Sur Rep. Ryan Singson, which is opposing the proposed modified excise tax system