Photo credit: DOH

Last week, we wrote about the dangers of House Bill 11360, known among public health advocates as the Sin Tax Sabotage Bill.

This proposed law threatens to reverse more than a decade of life-saving progress in tobacco control.

It seeks to slash taxes on cigarettes and vape products, a move that could flood our communities with cheap, harmful substances and put millions of lives at even greater risk.

Today, June 2, as Congress resumes session, this bill is once again being heard in the Senate.

To our Senators: don’t let more Filipino families bury their loved ones because of this bill.

During the recent World No Tobacco Day observance, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa delivered a passionate and science-based plea: protect the gains of our public health policy, especially for the youth.

He warned about the skyrocketing use of vapes among young Filipinos.

According to Department of Health data, youth vaping has more than doubled from 11.7% in 2015 to a staggering 24.6% in 2019. And it is likely even worse today.

While cigarette smoking rates have declined, a disturbing trend has emerged: many young users have simply shifted to vapes, mistakenly believing them to be safer. They are not.

Vaping is not a harmless alternative, it is the younger, sleeker, and more deceptive relative of smoking. It delivers the same addiction, with new and complex health risks.

Many flavored vapes contain oils and chemicals linked to severe lung diseases, including the potentially fatal condition known as EVALI (E-cigarette or Vaping product use-Associated Lung Injury).

Secretary Herbosa has been clear: retain the sin taxes. Regulate aggressively. Impose plain packaging. Ban youth-oriented marketing.

Penalize those who sell tobacco and vapes to minors especially through online platforms.

Most importantly, expand access to cessation support and legitimate nicotine replacement therapies for those who want to quit.

These are proven, science-backed strategies that work. So why are some lawmakers pushing a bill that would do the exact opposite?

The answer, sadly, is influence and other considerations. Proponents of HB 11360 claim the bill is needed to combat smuggling. But there is no evidence that lowering taxes curbs illicit trade.

In fact, the opposite is often true. Lowering taxes sends the message that enforcement has failed and encourages smugglers to keep exploiting the system.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Boying Remulla, speaking on our DZRH program Executive Session last Saturday, made the government’s position clear: what we need are tougher laws against smuggling, not tax cuts that benefit tobacco and vape manufacturers.

“Smugglers will not be deterred by lower taxes,” he said. “They will be deterred by the certainty of punishment, Remulla said.

We agree. This is not a policy debate. It’s a matter of life and death.

Every day, thousands of Filipino families suffer the consequences of tobacco-related diseases.

Breadwinners collapse from strokes. Mothers lose their voices to throat cancer. Children grow up orphaned by preventable illnesses.

Public hospitals overflow with patients whose suffering could have been avoided, if only our laws had placed public health above corporate profit.

Meanwhile, those profiting from this suffering live untouched, dining in five-star hotels, flying private jets, and influencing legislation through powerful lobbies.

Their wealth grows, while ordinary Filipinos pay the price in pain, poverty, and death.

Imagine a teenage girl in Bacolod who starts vaping because it smells like strawberries only to be hospitalized months later with a collapsed lung.

Or a grandfather in Zamboanga who quits smoking, only for his grandson to get hooked on the “cool new vape” being sold near the school gate.

These are not hypotheticals. These are our neighbors, our children, our families.

To Finance Secretary Ralph Recto: If you endorse this bill for approval, history will not be kind.

This could define your legacy. When you championed the Expanded Value-Added Tax (EVAT) in 2005, it came at great political cost.

This one may cost far more: Filipino lives, the credibility of our health institutions, and what little trust remains in government.

To our Senators: The choice is yours. You can defend the people or defend the profits of those killing them slowly.

This is your chance to be on the right side of history.

We cannot afford to trade Filipino lungs for corporate bottom lines.

Let this sabotage bill die in the committee not poor Filipinos in the emergency rooms of our public hospitals.

Tama na. Sobra na. The Filipino people have suffered enough.

Ed Javier

Ed Javier is a veteran communicator with over 34 years of professional experience both in the private and public sectors. He is also an entrepreneur, political analyst, newspaper columnist, broadcast and on-line journalist.