Illicit cigarette trade erodes government revenues and threatens to increase smoking prevalence in the Philippines from the present 23 percent, a leader of the House of Representatives said in a forum on Oct. 17, 2023.
“As a result of cheaper illicit alternative, this is a serious national crisis for me, having worked to bring down smoking prevalence down to 23 percent,” Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee, said in a media forum organized by the Sin Tax Coalition.
He said the study should focus on whether enforcement is lacking or there are other issues such the price structure at play. “Right now, I’m on the enforcement side,” he said. Salceda said the low prices of smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes encourage smokers, representing 23 percent of the population, to buy more sticks of cigarettes. “For better or for worse, our advocacy of higher taxes played a key role in making the illicit sector more attractive but that is because of our rent-seeking bureaucracy,” he said.
“Numbers from the World Bank also suggest that the decline in legal removals shouldn’t have been that high. Smoking prevalence only declined from 23.4 percent in 2019 to 23 percent in 2020,” he said. Salceda said among the cigarette brands sold are San Marino, Casablanca, Fort and Bravo on e-retailer platforms for as low as P350 per rim against what should be P800 per rim.
Lumagui estimated that the government would incur foregone revenues of P30.57 billion due to illicit cigarettes this year, up 16.7 percent from P26.19 billion in foregone revenues last year.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
House of Representatives website offline again following ‘suspicious, unusual activities’House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco says the action was taken 'as a precautionary measure to double-check and reinforce the cybersecurity measures we have undertaken, ensuring no vulnerabilities remain'
Read more »
Websites of Senate, House under attackThe websites of the House of Representatives and the Senate are apparently under cyber attack.
Read more »
House website back onlineThe House of Representatives announced on Monday that its website has been restored.
Read more »