OPINION
Ed Javier
A Tobacco Bill Written In Blood, Signed In Power, And Smoked By The Rich
FILE
Outside the Philippine General Hospital on Taft Ave., Manila, families line up in the early morning fog clutching folders, X-ray plates, and referral slips.
At the Lung Center of the Philippines, charity wards overflow with patients on shared beds: men with chest pain, women with chronic cough, teens with failing lungs.
At the Philippine Heart Center, hallways echo with the wheeze of heart failure brought on by years of smoking.
Most of these patients are poor. Many were smokers.
A growing number, especially the youth, are vape users hooked on flavored poison sold like candy and wrapped in packaging designed to lure them in.
In a recent podcast discussion, public health expert Dr. Tony Dans, former finance undersecretary Prof. Cielo Magno, and economist AJ Montesa laid out clear and compelling arguments against House Bill 11360, the so-called Sin Tax Sabotage Bill.
Their insights form the backbone of this column.
HB 11360 seeks to suspend the 5 percent annual increase in tobacco excise taxes, a provision specifically designed to keep sin products out of easy reach.
Without it, cigarettes and vapes become cheaper over time, especially for the poor and the young, the very people the law was meant to protect.
This is not a fight against smuggling. This is a fight to protect the billion-dollar profits of the tobacco industry.
In our view, this bill doesn’t just deserve to die, it needs to be buried and forgotten.
The bill is now being heard in the Senate, and we urge our senators, kill this bill before it kills more of our poor.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto should firmly advise the President not to sign it if ever it passes Congress.
In 2007, he lost his Senate reelection bid after authoring the unpopular EVAT law, a mistake many believe cost him dearly. Repeating history might cost more than just his reputation this time.
Dr. Dans, cited strong evidence that five million Filipinos quit smoking from 2012 to 2021 following the landmark Sin Tax Law.
That’s five million fewer heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and premature deaths.
That’s five million families spared from hospital bills, pain, and funeral costs. Reversing that trend now would be a cruel betrayal.
The proponents say this bill will stop cigarette smuggling, help poor tobacco farmers, and give relief to smokers struggling to get by.
Wala na ba kayong maisip na mas magandang rason?
Honestly, this tired excuse doesn’t hold water and nobody’s buying it.
Let’s be real.
Smuggling isn’t caused by expensive cigarettes but by the classic sabwatan ng smugglers, law enforcers, at ilang opisyal ng gobyerno.
Mahal ang yosi, oo, pero mas mahal ang lagay.
That’s why it’s so difficult to stop.
Even President Marcos Jr., in his recent podcast, admitted that some government officials are involved in illegal business themselves.
The World Health Organization is clear on this: lowering taxes only makes smoking more accessible, especially to the poor and the young.
As for farmers, the Sin Tax Law already allots funds to help them transition to better livelihoods.
If the goal is to help those struggling financially, tobacco and vapes aren’t the way. No one dies for lack of a cigarette. But millions die because of it.
Cheap sin products don’t help the poor, they addict them, rob them of health, and drag entire families into poverty.
This bill won’t help farmers. It won’t help the economy.
It will only help the executives of tobacco and vape companies, the same ones who rake in billion-dollar profits while our hospitals fill up with the consequences.
It’s a tale of two Philippines.
One where highly paid executives and public officials enjoy designer luxuries and dine in style in BGC, their luxury cars tucked away in private garages in gated subdivisions.
On weekends, they roll out their ₱30 million supercars, careful to avoid weekday traffic.
They speak of helping the poor, all while flaunting ₱10 million wristwatches and doing little to show they mean it.
Meanwhile, thousands of sick Filipinos line up before dawn at PCSO, in congressional offices, municipal halls, and PAGCOR, hoping for help.
Some are turned away. Others get P50, enough maybe for a ride home. Many just go home in tears.
Behind every disease they carry, lung cancer, heart failure, chronic asthma, lies a history of smoking, of vaping, of unchecked access to products that kill.
Now, Congress wants to make those products cheaper again.
“Wala na bang awa ang ating mga mambabatas?”
The question hangs in the air, unanswered, as patients continue to suffer and billionaires continue to benefit.
Congress is set to resume on June 2, and the danger is clear: this bill could be fast-tracked again or reintroduced in the next Congress.
If we’re not vigilant, it may quietly pass. While we’re busy lining up for medicine, they’ll be lining up the votes.
If lawmakers won’t kill this bill, the people will, just like they did in the 2025 midterm elections, through their votes, their voices in the streets, and a memory that won’t forget those in power who sold out lives for profit.
At the Lung Center of the Philippines, charity wards overflow with patients on shared beds: men with chest pain, women with chronic cough, teens with failing lungs.
At the Philippine Heart Center, hallways echo with the wheeze of heart failure brought on by years of smoking.
Most of these patients are poor. Many were smokers.
A growing number, especially the youth, are vape users hooked on flavored poison sold like candy and wrapped in packaging designed to lure them in.
In a recent podcast discussion, public health expert Dr. Tony Dans, former finance undersecretary Prof. Cielo Magno, and economist AJ Montesa laid out clear and compelling arguments against House Bill 11360, the so-called Sin Tax Sabotage Bill.
Their insights form the backbone of this column.
HB 11360 seeks to suspend the 5 percent annual increase in tobacco excise taxes, a provision specifically designed to keep sin products out of easy reach.
Without it, cigarettes and vapes become cheaper over time, especially for the poor and the young, the very people the law was meant to protect.
This is not a fight against smuggling. This is a fight to protect the billion-dollar profits of the tobacco industry.
In our view, this bill doesn’t just deserve to die, it needs to be buried and forgotten.
The bill is now being heard in the Senate, and we urge our senators, kill this bill before it kills more of our poor.
Finance Secretary Ralph Recto should firmly advise the President not to sign it if ever it passes Congress.
In 2007, he lost his Senate reelection bid after authoring the unpopular EVAT law, a mistake many believe cost him dearly. Repeating history might cost more than just his reputation this time.
Dr. Dans, cited strong evidence that five million Filipinos quit smoking from 2012 to 2021 following the landmark Sin Tax Law.
That’s five million fewer heart attacks, strokes, cancers, and premature deaths.
That’s five million families spared from hospital bills, pain, and funeral costs. Reversing that trend now would be a cruel betrayal.
The proponents say this bill will stop cigarette smuggling, help poor tobacco farmers, and give relief to smokers struggling to get by.
Wala na ba kayong maisip na mas magandang rason?
Honestly, this tired excuse doesn’t hold water and nobody’s buying it.
Let’s be real.
Smuggling isn’t caused by expensive cigarettes but by the classic sabwatan ng smugglers, law enforcers, at ilang opisyal ng gobyerno.
Mahal ang yosi, oo, pero mas mahal ang lagay.
That’s why it’s so difficult to stop.
Even President Marcos Jr., in his recent podcast, admitted that some government officials are involved in illegal business themselves.
The World Health Organization is clear on this: lowering taxes only makes smoking more accessible, especially to the poor and the young.
As for farmers, the Sin Tax Law already allots funds to help them transition to better livelihoods.
If the goal is to help those struggling financially, tobacco and vapes aren’t the way. No one dies for lack of a cigarette. But millions die because of it.
Cheap sin products don’t help the poor, they addict them, rob them of health, and drag entire families into poverty.
This bill won’t help farmers. It won’t help the economy.
It will only help the executives of tobacco and vape companies, the same ones who rake in billion-dollar profits while our hospitals fill up with the consequences.
It’s a tale of two Philippines.
One where highly paid executives and public officials enjoy designer luxuries and dine in style in BGC, their luxury cars tucked away in private garages in gated subdivisions.
On weekends, they roll out their ₱30 million supercars, careful to avoid weekday traffic.
They speak of helping the poor, all while flaunting ₱10 million wristwatches and doing little to show they mean it.
Meanwhile, thousands of sick Filipinos line up before dawn at PCSO, in congressional offices, municipal halls, and PAGCOR, hoping for help.
Some are turned away. Others get P50, enough maybe for a ride home. Many just go home in tears.
Behind every disease they carry, lung cancer, heart failure, chronic asthma, lies a history of smoking, of vaping, of unchecked access to products that kill.
Now, Congress wants to make those products cheaper again.
“Wala na bang awa ang ating mga mambabatas?”
The question hangs in the air, unanswered, as patients continue to suffer and billionaires continue to benefit.
Congress is set to resume on June 2, and the danger is clear: this bill could be fast-tracked again or reintroduced in the next Congress.
If we’re not vigilant, it may quietly pass. While we’re busy lining up for medicine, they’ll be lining up the votes.
If lawmakers won’t kill this bill, the people will, just like they did in the 2025 midterm elections, through their votes, their voices in the streets, and a memory that won’t forget those in power who sold out lives for profit.
May 26, 2025
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