Sen. Cayetano’s call to increase alcohol taxes lauded

Cayetano described higher rates on “sin” products as what our social conscience dictates, guided by our concern for the welfare of families and children and in pursuit of the public good.

The Department of Finance (DoF) has expressed its full support for the higher alcohol excise tax rates contained in Senate Bill (SB) 1074, which was sponsored in plenary by Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Pia Cayetano.

“We are one with Senator Cayetano in affirming that higher taxes are the most cost-effective way to discourage excessive consumption of ‘sin’ products,” DoF Assistant Secretary and DoF spokesman Antonio Joselito Lambino II said at a recent forum hosted by the Action for Economic Reforms at the Senate.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua of the Strategy, Economics, and Results Group (SERG) said the DoF “will continue to extend the necessary technical assistance to help Sen. Pia preserve the rates in the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s well-studied committee report, as plenary deliberations resume, hopefully as soon as the Senate comes back in session.”

“We are one with Senator Cayetano in her push for significantly higher rates in alcohol excise taxes. Her analysis is correct that beyond the personal health costs, the socioeconomic costs of alcohol need to be mitigated. The massive economic costs of alcohol abuse justify significantly higher rates. For behavior to change meaningfully, the tax rates have to be high enough.” Chua said.

Earlier, Cayetano said a significantly higher increase in the excise tax on alcohol products would be the “singular, reasonable and patriotic conclusion” of the extensive committee hearings conducted by the Senate tax panel after members “listened to various stakeholders, questioned and analyzed relevant information provided by resource persons and experts, in both the private and public sectors.”

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has described Cayetano’s proposal as “well-studied,” and called for the bill’s swift approval in the Senate, as he acknowledged Cayetano’s “strong advocacy of safeguarding the health of our people.”

During her sponsorship speech last 25 September, Cayetano described higher rates on “sin” products as “what our social conscience dictates, guided by our concern for the welfare of families and children, and in pursuit of the public good.”

Cayetano went on to cite the massive social, physical, and psychological costs of excessive alcohol consumption.

Citing Dr. Orlando Ocampo, the Chief of the Trauma division of the Philippine General Hospital, Cayetano said that “55 percent of the injured patients” treated in the PGH emergency room “have alcohol on their breath. 25 percent of these injured patients are blood alcohol content positive.”