Palace certifies as urgent bill imposing higher excise tax for tobacco

May 28, 2019

Malacanang has certified as urgent a bill imposing higher excise taxes for tobacco products.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, designated officer-in-charge of the Office of the President until Saturday while President Rodrigo Duterte is in Japan for an official visit, said the certification of urgency for Senate Bill 2233 has been signed.

"The Certification of Urgency for SB 2233 has been signed and is on its way to the Senate," Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.

The Senate is to approve the bill on June 3, Lawmakers have four session days to ratify the final version of the proposed measure and sent it for Duterte’s approval as the 17th Congress is scheduled to adjourn on June 7.

SB 2233 proposes a staggered increase in the excise tax per cigarette pack from 2020 to 2023.

The bill recommends a rate of P45, or P10 in the first year of implementation followed by an annual P5 increase until the rate reaches P60.

After this, the tax rate would increase by five percent annually.

The House version, House Bill 8677, pegged tobacco tax hike at P37.50 to P45 per pack until 2022, which would increase by four percent every year. DMS