House approves on 3rd reading ‘sin tax’ bill

AFP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading House Bill 5727, which would raise taxes of tobacco and alcohol products.

With a vote of 210 in favour of the measure, 21 against, and five abstentions, the House passed the controversial bill Wednesday, the last day of its second regular session.

Primarily sponsored by Davao City Representative Isidro Ungab, the measure eyes to raise P33 billion in revenues annually, which is lower than the initial P60 billion to be generated by imposing a two-tier tax on alcohol products and a unitary tax on tobacco products.

The lowered target is expected to be reached through a two-tier tax on tobacco products and three-tier tax on alcohol products.

The two-tier and three-tier tax schemes will categorize tobacco products as low and medium-priced and alcohol products as low-, medium-, and high-priced respectively.

This means that high-end tobacco and alcohol brands will have higher taxes compared to the low-end products.

La Union Representative Victor Ortega initially proposed a three-tier tax on tobacco products “to soften the impact, most especially for the farmers.”

Majority of lawmakers, however, opposed Ortega’s proposal, earning the ire of the La Union legislator who demanded to see who voted in favour for or against his proposal.

He motioned to divide the House, which was allowed by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales Jr. who divided the lawmakers into four rows to better count the votes.

A total of 28 voted for the proposal while 128 who voted against it.

The House will adjourn sine die Thursday, June 7, and will be back in July for its third regular session.