The problems raised by some legislators on the sin-tax reform bill, such as smuggling, will be addressed, Malacañang said on Tuesday as it expressed confidence of the passage of the measure this year.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Malacañang’s certainty about the passage of the tax-reform measure was based on the feedback from its author, Liberal Party Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya.

Abaya’s colleagues in the House of Representatives, including some from the administration party, had said the bill would hurt, if not kill, the tobacco industry, and promote smuggling and counterfeiting.

“Malacañang remains confident that the measure would be passed this year despite opposition to it in the House,” he said. Since “smuggling is driven by corrupt officials,” it will be “cured” by assigning the right people to key posts, such as Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino  Biazon, Lacierda said.

“The reason Commissioner Ruffy Biazon has been appointed is to make sure that smuggling will be checked and we have to have people of integrity to head the Bureau of Customs. We don’t believe simplifying the sin taxes would lead to increased smuggling,” he said.

Lacierda said that while fears about the adverse impact of the measure on the tobacco industry, particularly on employment, “is something that remains to be seen,” proponents of the bill believe that it would have no such effect.