Debates



The approval of SB 3299 comes after heated debates in past sessions at the Senate and controversy that prompted a change in the Senate ways and means committee leadership.



Drilon and his allies defended the bill, saying it will not only increase government revenues, but also discourage the poor from consuming tobacco and alcohol products, reducing the incidence of diseases associated with these.



But Recto and Marcos, among the senators who opposed the bill, argued it will displace tobacco farmers and exacerbate smuggling.



“There’s a saying, ‘Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg.’ The government already collects a lot of money from the tobacco, alcohol industry. If they drastically change the system, this will destroy their source of revenues,” Marcos, who hails from the tobacco-growing province of Ilocos Norte, said last week.



Drilon became acting chairman of the Senate ways and means committee after Recto resigned from the post. Recto stepped down after drawing flak for sponsoring a “watered-down” version that sought to raise only P15 billion to P20 billion in revenues.



A member of Aquino's Liberal Party, Recto's fate was similar to that of former House ways and means committee chair Batangas 2nd District Rep Hermilando Mandanas. Reports quoting administration sources said Mandanas was ousted from the ways and means chairmanship due to differences with the Aquino government on sin taxes. His refusal to sign the impeachment complaint against former chief justice Renato Corona was the final straw that severed his ties with Aquino, the same reports added. Mandanas bolted out of the Liberal Party.



Not just revenue, but also health



The sin tax bill is the only revenue measure that the Aquino administration had certified urgent so far in its term.



The bill is very important to Aquino because it is key to attaining the Philippines' first investment grade status. Credit ratings agencies such as Moody's, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's are awaiting the passage of the bill as they said it will give the Philippines a revenue boost that will allow it to further improve its fiscal position.



However, beyond being a revenue measure, Drilon branded the bill as “the single most important health policy legislation in the past decade.”



It aims to address the Health Department’s P24 billion funding gap, and increase enrollment of the poor in Philhealth.



“Right now, the budget funds the enrolment of 5.2 million families who are in the lowest quintile. The proposal is to add another 5.2 million families but that won’t be possible unless we pass the sin tax. There will be no additional enrollments, no additional repair of hospitals, if sin tax is not passed,” Drilon said in past interviews.



The Health Department, anti-tobacco and medical groups have rallied behind Drilon’s bill.



Tobacco farmers and workers protested the measure and warned they will campaign against reelectionist senators who voted to pass it. – Rappler.com