Raising the excise tax on cigarettes in 2012 made around eight million Filipinos stop smoking while supply decreases.
The raise in excise tax on cigarettes in 2012 made around eight million Filipino smokers stop in their vice as the supply of cigarettes went down by more than 25 percent.
The 2012 landmark law on excise taxes made the smoking prevalence rate dropped to 23 percent in 2016 from 31 percent four years ago or before the enactment of the Republic Act 10351, otherwise known as the Sin Tax Reform Law.
According to Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine President Antonio Miguel Dans, the latest prevalent rate is equivalent to eight million Filipinos who have quit smoking.
In a forum in Pasig City on Thursday, Dans said that the Philippines has “gone a long way, but yet, more needs to be done”.
He said, they expect another about two million more to halt smoking “once the unilateral bracket takes effect” by 2017.
From 2012 up to the next three years, the volume of the supply of tobacco in the market decreased by an average of 25.9 percent and the biggest drop was at 19.4 percent in 2014 from the 2014 figure.
From 2012 to 2013, the tobacco supply dropped by 15.5 percent.
However, the supply in 2015 was higher by 9.1 percent compared to the previous year.
Department of Finance Fiscal Policy and Planning Group member Johanna Hortine explained that the drop was because of the usual practice of front loading by the tobacco industry in the anticipation of the increase in rates in 2016.
Hortine added that the provision of the Republic Act 8424, otherwise known as the National Internal Revenue Code, which requires manufacturers to affix excise tax stamps on tobacco products, and the implementation of the Graphic Health Warnings Law, also helped in lessening the number of Filipino smokers.
Under the RA 10351, excise taxes for tobacco and alcohol have been raised and it also requires reducing to just one tax bracket for cigarette products by 2017.