Several sectors have praised the Lower House for its swift approval of HB 1026, which seeks to increase taxes on alcohol and electronic cigarettes, barely three weeks after President Duterte endorsed the passage of the remaining packages of the Comprehensive Tax Reform program.
The measure goes on record as the first to be passed by the 18th Congress.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez lauded the House Ways and Means Committee chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda for its fast action on the bill, which cleared the way to its speedy approval at the plenary level after going through just a single panel hearing. The Sin Tax Coalition led by co-convener Dr Anthony Leachon has thanked Salceda for the measure’s swift passage because “alcohol and tobacco products are leading causes of non-communicable disease, and this measure will be a positive step in discouraging Filipinos from excessively consuming these products.”
The House approved on August 20 HB 1026 with a 184-2-1 vote during the committee’s first hearing in the 18th Congress. It was the same version crafted by Salceda and endorsed by the committee on alcohol excise tax and passed by the chamber during the 17th Congress, said Dominguez.
The higher revenues from CTRP reform measures will enable the government to fully implement President Duterte’s priority projects meant to bring about real change and better lives for the Filipino people. “We at the Department of Finance (DOF) laud the members of the House of Representatives, especially the ways and means panel and its chairman, Rep. Salceda, for prompt action on the measure,” Dominguez said in a statement.
Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua noted that the House’s approval of the measure on second reading kept on track Salceda’s commitment to pass by end of September the rest of the tax reform packages under CTRP, now pending before the ways and means committee, so they could all be passed by the plenary before the proposed 2020 national budget is tackled.