Taxes not solution to reducing smoking

Rep. Danilo Suarez of Quezon argues that taxation is the most effective tool to controlling tobacco consumption. But it being the case, the taxes, though raised many times, what he wants the government to do is to further raise taxes on all tobacco, and cigar and cigarette products.

Suarez, in short, wants his cake and eat it, too. He wants to kill the tobacco industry and, at the same time, derive more revenues from tobacco planting, manufacturing and smoking.

Today being April Fool’s Day, he can have his cake and eat it, too, although it may be difficult to digest what he really wants to do with the tobacco industry and the need of the government to finance projects related to tobacco research and information dissemination, in his belief that small-time smokers should be further penalized through taxation.

If the government really wants to stop smoking as it, according to him and the health experts, causes heart diseases, stroke, impotence, deafness, blindness and loss of bone density, he should sponsor a bill that will totally ban the planting of tobacco.

But Suarez is not about to do that. The tobacco planters will be the first to raise a big howl and remove any politician from office in the name of public service. Nevertheless, if he really cares about the health of smokers and nonsmokers, he should be the first to criminalize the planting of tobacco no matter the political consequences.

He is calling for a “strong political will” to stop smoking through taxation when what the government really needs is a strong political will to altogether ban smoking from the face of the earth.

In his explanatory note, Suarez says House Bill 1294 proposes to increase by 50 percent the specific tariff rates pertaining to tobacco, including cigarette paper, to effectively reduce tobacco consumption “among users.”

Suarez was careful enough not to mention the planters who control the northern side of the country’s political geography and his desire to help the administration cut its gargantuan budgetary deficit and revenue shortfalls.

In House Bill 3364 introduced by Reps. Paul Daza, Anna York Bondoc, Arthur Pingoy Jr., Lorenzo Tañada III, Joel Villanueva and Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel, there is also a proposal to scare smokers and nonsmokers by putting on cigarette labels horror pictures depicting the dangers of smoking.

Their bill, they say, will seek to “effectively instill health consciousness through picture-based warnings on tobacco products.” But again, these congressmen, no matter how noble, not necessarily practical their ideas are, HB 3364 is like beating around the bush.

They don’t need to scare us by showing horrific pictures that may instead tend to expose us to heart attacks and nervous tensions. Just ban the planting of tobacco and that will save the problem.

Daza et al. explain that the “picture-based health warnings will have designs unique to the Philippines which will serve as an effective method by which the government can identify tobacco packages that are smuggled into the country, thus eradicating this illegal activity.”

Oh, really? It seems this particular explanation coming from learned men is severely lacking in logic and common sense. Furthermore, it is the duty of the Bureau of Customs to eradicate this so-called illegal activity, not the duty of the smokers.

By the way, there are ample medical studies and researches that say that not only smoking directly cause deaths. For example, a nagging wife or husband is one of the reasons why people die before their time, not smoking.

And don’t forget the claims of MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando that motorists meet their early deaths for reasons not related to his road barriers like texting and drinking liquors.    

E-mail: raulbvalino@yahoo.com.ph

THE Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Acef) was part of the government’s response to the popular demand for “safety nets” following the decision in the mid-1990s of then-President Fidel Ramos and his allies in Congress to open up the Philippine economy to global free trade under the so-called Uruguay Round.

You know the US dollar has problems when comedians start working it into their acts.

An article about the Philippines hit the Internet last week with the completely misleading headline, “Survey: Philippines Viewed by Japanese as One of the Riskiest Places for Business.”

Mirror on the wall: Taxes not solution to reducing smoking

Rep. Danilo Suarez of Quezon argues that taxation is the most effective tool to controlling tobacco consumption. But it being the case, the taxes, though raised many times, what he wants the government to do is to further raise taxes on all tobacco, and cigar and cigarette products.

Omerta: Rice—the true story

THE country’s current rice problem is really not all that serious. Trouble is, the actual situation has somehow been blown out of proportion, sending the commercial prices of the staple to “abnormal” levels which, in turn, sent consumers on a mild and short-lived buying frenzy—but only for cheaper government rice.

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara: Combating corruption

Corruption is at the core of all developmental constraints in the Philippines, spinning a web of problems that entangle government efforts and cocoon our growth.

Dr. Pablo S. Trillana III: The Philippine bar exams

The results of the 2007 bar exams have just been released by the Supreme Court. Three schools that usually provide bar topnotchers again landed in the top ten: Ateneo de Manila, University of the Philippines (UP) and San Beda College.