SENATOR Juan Edgardo M. Angara said he will conduct a hearing this month to tackle bills raising sin taxes to determine whether the revenue generated could fund the proposed universal health care program.
“Sin taxes have been crucial in funding health programs of the government,” according to the senator, who chairs the Senate ways and means committee, in a statement on Tuesday.
“Our committee is set to conduct a hearing this month to see if raising sin taxes again is a viable means in funding the proposed UHC,” he added.
During the resumption of the Senate budget hearing of the Department of Health (DoH), Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque reiterated his concerns over the cuts of a portion in the proposed budget of the agency to fund improvements to health facilities.
He said the P16.7 billion budget cut may set the DoH back in implementing the universal health care program.
“There are many construction projects of health facilities that will not be completed if we are not given the P16.7 billion budget. We’re hoping this will be brought back to the DoH,” Mr. Duque told reporters after the hearing.
The Senate committee on finance, led by the vice chairman Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito, approved a P141.4 billion proposed DoH budget, but noted that the issue with budget cuts on the agency’s health facilities improvement program will be raised in the plenary debates.
“I had a budget approved in the committee level pending the health facilities enhancement program fund. Whatever amount we can return, we will review it. We will really fight for this,” he told reporters.
Mr. Ejercito also said the funding of the universal health care program will be sufficient in the first year of implementation. But he reiterated that collections from an increased sin taxes will address possible funding issues of the health program in the second or third year of its implementation.
Several measures have been filed in Congress seeking to raise sin taxes, especially the tobacco tax. Senate Bill No. 1599, introduced by Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao, proposes to increase the unitary cigarette tax to P60. Meanwhile Senate Bill No. 1605, written by Mr. Ejercito, sets the excise tax to P90. Both measures remain pending at the committee level. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
