Group backs sin tax increase

THE proposals to increase sin taxes, which include the bill of Senator JV Ejercito seeking to hike the tax on tobacco products, are gaining ground in the private sector.

This developed as the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) expressed support to the proposals and appealed to senators to fast track the passage of higher excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products.

Ejercito's Senate Bill No. 1605 seeks to increase to Php90 the tax for every pack of cigarettes, but he is amenable to the P60 per pack tax proposal of Senator Manny Pacquiao.

"There is a huge need for revenues so that the Universal Health Care measure will and can be implemented sustainably. And increasing taxes on sin products is one big way of raising funds and it will even reduce cigarette smoking in the country," he said in a statement.

The FEF said: "The P60 billion in revenue that increased alcohol and tobacco taxes are projected to generate is crucial in funding the soon-to-be implemented Universal Health Care law." The Universal Health Care measure spearheaded by Ejercito is now awaiting the signature of President Duterte for it to become a law.

The FEF, in its website fef.org.ph, listed ex-government economic managers like former Prime Minister Cesar Virata and former Socio-Economic Minister Gerado Sicat as members of its Board of Advisers.

It also said that it is "a public advocacy organization dedicated to advance the cause of economic and political liberty, good governance, secure and well-defined property rights, market oriented reforms and consumer protection."