Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. (File photo)
MANILA -- The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday lauded President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of Republic Act 11467 which increases the excise tax on alcohol products, electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) or vapes, and heated tobacco products (HTPs).
“This is a win-win situation for all. This will give us an enormous strategic advantage in reducing non-communicable diseases and providing the necessary restrictions in the accessibility and availability of harmful products, especially among the youth,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a statement.
Duque said it is time for novel tobacco products to be "properly regulated to enforce sensible public health standards and protect the health of the people”.
The law also provides for the expansion of value-added tax exemptions on the sale and importation of prescription drugs for diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis, and kidney diseases.
“As medicines become cheaper, more Filipinos would be able to afford life-saving medicines without worrying about financial risk. DOH is vigorously monitoring and reviewing the prices of pharmaceutical products to ensure the most affordable medicines for our people,” Duque said.
He added that taxation and regulation of harmful products could reduce their consumption and be a source of additional revenue for the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.
On Wednesday, Malacañang announced that the President signed RA 11467 but it is yet to release a copy of it.
It also introduced the regulation of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and exemption of the importation and sale of certain prescription drugs and medicines from value-added tax.
It would make alcohol, tobacco and novel tobacco product derivatives less affordable and enforce the "regulatory purview of the FDA over e-cigarettes and HTPs".
In November 2019, Duterte certified as urgent a measure imposing higher taxes on alcohol products and e-cigarettes to “address the urgent need to generate additional revenue to support the effective implementation of the UHC Act and to further protect the right to health of the people.” (PNA)
