Siniguro ng isang House leader sa mga local at foreign business group na nagsagawa ng masusing pag-aaral ang House of Representative bago nito ipinasa ang batas na muling itaas ang buwis ng sigarilyo.
Sinabi ni Deputy Speaker at Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu na ang pagpasa sa House Bill 4144 ay balancing act ng Kongreso upang i-promote hindi lamang ang interes ng gobyerno, kundi maging ng mga magsasaka at ng tobacco farming industry.
“The (House) Committee (on Ways and Means) approached the proposal balancing the interests of the government, farmers and the industry. Raising the revenues, protecting the interest of tobacco farmers and giving the industry to make long term plans as to different classes ofcigarettes without sidelining the health issue,” aniya sa isang panayam.
Sa isang pahinang advertisement, sinabi ng Philippine Business group at Joint Foreign Chambers, samahan ng mga local at foreign business group, na sa halip na palitan ang Republic Act 10351, na isinabatas noong 2012, kinakailangan siguruhin ng Kongreso na naipatutupad ito, sa paniniwalang “it is a good and sufficient law that would lead the government to attain its health and revenue goals.”
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“It is also worthy to note that during the deliberations of RA 10351 in the 15th Congress the tobacco industry members are all against single tier on cigarettes since this will kill the local industry manufacturing lower class brands. It is however very surprising that there are some members of the said industry are for single tier rate now,” pahayag ni Abu.
“Revenue side the two tier rates at P32 and P36 in HB 4144 will raise more revenue than the current law for 2017 imposing one tier rate on cigarettes,” dagdag pa ni Abu. (Charissa M. Luci)
