THE Department of Finance (DoF) said it has set an internal deadline of 15-18 months to pass new legislation taxing alcoholic beverages and e-cigarettes, hoping for laws to be in place to fund Universal Health Care (UHC) before the 2022 election campaign heats up.

“We have to finish this thing by 15 to 18 months… It’s basically between 15 and 18 months,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told reporters on the sidelines of the 115th anniversary celebration of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

The latest estimate is longer than the timeline provided by Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua on July 24. Mr. Chua had expressed hopes for passage before the year ends.

The DoF estimated that such taxes could generate P15.8 billion in the first year of implementation and P111.5 billion over the next five years, based on the bill passed by the previous Congress. The taxes will help plug the funding gap for the Universal Health Care (UHC) law.

Last month, Mr. Dominguez said he hopes to increase the excise tax on alcoholic beverages to at least P40 per liter and further raise taxes on heated tobacco and vapor products to parity with regular cigarettes.

“In 2021, everybody will be looking at other things… that’s the reality. I’m not saying nothing will happen but the distraction will be more than normal,” he added, referring to the run-up to the 2022 Presidential elections.

The DoF said in late July that the suspension of some of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) gaming operations will have a minimal impact on UHC funding as the funds generated by gaming will only account for 1.2% or P3 billion of the P257 billion needed for UHC next year.

The freeze on Lotto operations was lifted on July 30 while other gaming operations with franchises, licenses and permits given by PCSO, such as small-town lottery, Keno and Peryahan ng Bayan remain suspended pending investigation.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dominguez also said the budget for next year will be passed on time and with none of the delays that held back the 2019 budget’s approval.

“For next year, I believe that the budget will be approved on time and that we will not experience the same delays… It will be within the required period. In fact on Monday, the final budget will be presented to the cabinet by the DBM (Department of Budget and Management),” he said.

The government operated on a re-enacted 2018 budget from the start of the year until April 15, when President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed the general appropriations bill into law. He vetoed P95.3 billion in appropriations that he said were not in accordance with his administration’s priorities, slashing this year’s national budget to about P3.662 trillion. — Beatrice M. Laforga

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