No to the RECTOmized sin tax bill !

As chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Sen. Ralph Recto sponsored a substitute bill on Tuesday that appears to have been written by the sin tax industries.

In his presentation, Recto claims that ordinary Filipinos (not the industry) will suffer because of high taxes and that smuggling will worsen because of high taxes, despite the scientific evidence against these industry-propelled myths.  He then proposes a 121% tax increase in 2013 for low-priced cigarette brands, which in reality translates to only 3.28 pesos per pack or 16 centavos per stick.  For more "expensive" brands, it is only a 10-centavo per stick tax increase.  This is ridiculous, as the industry can easily absorb the tax increase to keep prices low, thus having absolutely no impact on consumption; people will continue to smoke because it will remain cheap to do so.

According to WHO, tobacco will kill one BILLION people this century, mostly in low and middle-income countries. Tobacco is an equal opportunity killer and is thus a non-partisan issue. Regardless of your political affiliation, tell our politicians running in the 2013 elections not to take tobacco money and find out where they stand on the issue. Will they be a part of the global tobacco epidemic or part of the solution?

Tobacco companies are not normal corporations and should not be considered "stakeholders" in tobacco control. They are the problem, not part of the solution. They are pariahs and should not be writing tobacco control policy or tobacco tax laws in the Philippines or any other country.