Advocates push alcopop tax hike

ADVOCATES for sin tax health and governance has urged the House Committee on Ways and Means to immediately pass the bill hiking the excise tax rates of pre-mixed alcoholic beverages, citing the estimated P492 million in revenues at stake.

In a statement Tuesday, Sin Tax Coalition noted that the amount could be raised by restructuring the tax on pre-mixed alcoholic beverages or alcopops and effectively taxing them at the same rate as beer.

But the bill to make that happen has seen “no movements in the committee” since committee chair, Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda, filed it in August last year.

Citing the National Nutrition Survey, the group said 24.4% of Filipino adults were alcohol drinkers, and 54.7% of whom were classified as binge drinkers. “This makes it necessary to raise taxes on alcohol to decrease consumption,” health reform advocate Tony Leachon said in the statement. 

“Sin taxes have successfully lowered consumption of harmful products in the Philippines, most notably curbing cigarette use by a third in a decade.”

The group cited the alcohol’s wide-reaching implications on health and development, noting that alcohol consumption is linked to domestic violence, traffic accidents, disability, death, and impoverishment. “In 2019, 39,802 Filipinos died with alcohol as a risk factor.”

“Alcopops, or pre-mixed alcoholic beverages, such as Tanduay Ice, enjoy consumption patterns similar to beer but are taxed lower and priced lower,” it said. “Alcopops are made even more attractive to the youth by their wide range of flavors.”

The coalition said Mr. Salceda, whom they described as a “champion of sin taxes” has the full support of health advocates who are “eagerly waiting for him to hear the bill and open space for its discussion.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza