After the Senate and House of Representatives approved their respective versions of the sin tax bill, reform advocates on Thursday vowed to fight at the bicameral conference committee level for a measure that would yield substantial revenues for government.
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Action for Economic Reforms (AER) ? a non-governmental organization ? noted the fight for a better sin tax measure continues at the bicameral conference committee, which would reconcile the Senate and House bills into what the Aquino administration will approve and eventually evolved into a law.
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The Senate approved a measure that would raise P40 billion in additional revenues during the first year of implementation. The House version would yield P31.35 billion.
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The Aquino administration is eyeing additional tax revenues of P60 billion.
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?We are fighting three wars,? said AER coordinator Filomeno Sta. Ana. ?We won in the Lower House and Senate, and we have to win in the Bicameral Conference Committee.??
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Historically, the Bicameral meetings are ?shrouded in secrecy? during which killer amendments ? such as the price classification freeze, which kept cigarettes at their 1996 rates ? are inserted, according to the AER coordinator.
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?Any change in the consolidated bill should not deviate from what was already approved and, instead, should incorporate the best features in both bills,? he said.
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This is what AER is now fighting for ? an improved version of the House and Senate bills, he added.
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Sen. Franklin Drilon, chair of the ways and means committee, pushed for a sin tax reform measure with a P26 unitary rate for cigarettes by 2017, without the price classification freeze, said Jo-Ann Latuja, AER senior economist.?
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Because of Drilon, the Senate version now incorporates annual tax increases of no less than 4 percent and higher tax rates for alcohol with more funds from the additional revenues for universal health care and tobacco farmers and workers, Latuja noted.
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?Despite the attempts to water down the bill, we are very grateful for Senator Drilon's success at being able to pull the tax rates up. Instead of P22 [per pack at a unitary rate], it became P26,? she added.?
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Legislators who sided with the tobacco industry should be excluded from the Bicameral meeting, according to the AER economist, claiming that Sen. Ralph Recto previously copied the Philip Morris proposal for his committee report.
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The passage of the sin tax measure is a major victory for health ?from any point of view,? said Dr. Antonio Dans of the UP College of Medicine.
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?This is not our first sin tax bill, but it is our first substantial sin tax bill,? Dans added. ? VS, GMA News
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