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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY February 1 - 15, 2019
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Scrap excise tax on fuel, Palace urged
SEN. Paolo Benigno “Bam”
Aquino on Monday appealed to
Malacañang to suspend the excise
tax on fuel under the Tax Reform
for Acceleration and Inclusion
(Train) Law to ease the burden of
consumers.
The senator made the call as
oil companies announced that
they would their pump prices on
Tuesday.
“Nakikiusap po tayo kay
Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte
na isuspinde ang dagdag-buwis
sa petrolyo para tulungan ang
ating mga kababayan (I appeal to
President Duterte to suspend the
additional tax on petroleum to help
our fellowmen),” Aquino said.
“Wala
pong
ibang
matatakbuhan ang taumbayan
maliban sa Malacañan dahil tapos
na ang session ng Kongreso (The
people have no one to turn to but
Malacanan because Congress has
adjourned its session),” he added.
Aquino was one of four senators
who voted against the ratification of
the Train Law in December 2018.
In May 2018, he filed the Bawas
Presyo sa Petrolyo Bill, seeking to
suspend and roll back the excise
tax on fuel under the Train Law
once the country’s inflation rate
exceeds the government’s target
for three straight months.
“I hope that even temporarily,
through the suspension of excise
tax on oil, our people will have
some respite from their everyday
struggle against poverty,” he said
in Filipino.
With oil prices in the world
market rising, he said the
government should immediately
suspend the excise tax on fuel
under the Train Law to help lower
prices of petroleum products. (B.
E. Tamayo, TMT)
SEN. PACQUIAO BACKS HIKE ON ALCOHOL EXCISE TAX
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
SENATE – After advocating for
a higher tax on cigarettes, Sen.
Manny Pacquiao is hellbent on
pushing for an increase in alcohol
excise tax.
In 2017, Pacquiao sponsored
Senate Bill 1599, proposing to
increase tobacco tax rate of PhP30
pesos per pack to PhP60 pesos
starting 2018 and nine percent per
year thereafter.
SB 1599 is now being taken
up at the Bicameral Conference
level.
Some individuals representing
the
tobacco
industry
had
approached Pacquiao to lobby
for a lower excise tax on tobacco
products, but the Mindanao
lawmaker refused to budge.
“This is for the interest of our
country and the welfare of the
greater majority. So, I stood pat on
my decision to push for a higher
excise tax on tobacco products,”
Pacquiao said.
In a meeting with the
representatives of the Department
of Finance (DOF) and the
Department of Health (DOH) on
Monday morning (Feb. 4) right
in his office, Pacquiao vowed to
support the agencies’ proposal
to impose higher excise tax on
alcohol products.
The DOF and the DOH are
pushing for alcohol tax reform
to source out funding for the
full implementation of the
government’s Universal Health
Care (UHC) Law and to dissuade
the public from excessive alcohol
intake.
The DOF claimed that the
government needs around PhP40
billion additional funding for the
first year implementation of UHC
program.
The UHC Act is set to be
implemented starting this year.
According to the DOF,
the current alcohol excise tax
collections are not proportionate
to prevailing rate of alcohol
consumption throughout the
country.
DOH 2015 data showed that
around 55 percent or more than
half of the country’s total population
belonging to age bracket 20 years
old and above indulge in binge
drinking.
Out of that figure, 58.8 percent
are males while 41.9 percent are
females.
Based on the 2018 data from
the Institute for Health Metrics and
Evaluation, alcohol is the seventh
leading risk factor for deaths and
is, in fact, the leading risk factor for
deaths among people aged 15-49
years old.
Also, 2018 data from Global
Status Report on Alcohol and
Health showed that 66 percent
cases of liver cirrhosis among
males were caused by excessive
alcohol intake.
According to the DOH record,
around 2,875 road mishaps
resulting to death were cause by
binge drinking.
The DOH believed that binge
drinkers should be held responsible
for the negative alcohol effects
– crimes, drunk driving, domestic
violence and loss of productivity
– in society.
The DOF-DOH alcohol tax
reform, proposed a 67 percent
price hike from PhP24 to PhP40
on all fermented liquors – Beer,
Ale, Basi, Lager, Porter and Tapuy –
starting 2019, then five-peso price
increase every year until 2022.
On distilled spirits which include
Gin, Brandy, Vodka, Whiskey, Rum
and Tequila, the proposal was
167 percent price increase – from
PhP22.5 to PhP60 – beginning this
year then around PhP5 price hike
every year until 2022.
The DOF-DOH proposed
about 10 percent price surge on
sparkling
wines/champagnes,
while around 10 percent upsurge
was also being pushed on all still
wines and carbonated wines.
The DOF-DOH claimed target
revenues that may be generated
from the increase in alcohol excise
tax would be enough to finance the
implementation of UHC Act.
Court orders Rappler chief’s arrest, free on bail
By ASHZEL HACHERO
A MANILA court yesterday
issued a warrant of arrest against
Rappler CEO Maria Ressa in
connection with a cyber-libel case
filed by businessman Wilfredo
Keng for a story the online news
portal published in 2012.
The warrant issued by Manila
RTC Branch 46 Judge Rainelda
Estacio-Montesa
was
dated
February 12 and served yesterday
by NBI agents to Ressa at
Rappler’s office in Estancia, Capitol
Commons, Pasig City.
Sought for comment, Justice
Secretary
Menardo
Guevarra
said Ressa can post bail for her
temporary liberty.
“At any rate, the simple solution
is to post bail, whichever case it
may be against Ms. Ressa. This is
simply procedural. Ms. Ressa may
post bail anytime, even before the
warrant is served,” Guevarra said.
Last week, the DOJ approved
the indictment of Ressa and
former Rappler reporter Reynaldo
Santos Jr. for cyber libel based on
the complaint filed by Keng.
A 2012 Rappler article linked
Keng to murder and trafficking
of humans and drugs, citing
information contained in an
intelligence report from an
unspecified agency.
NBI officers escorted Ressa
through a phalanx of media that
poured into the office of Rappler
in Pasig City, when news of the
agents’ arrival went viral on social
media.
“People should know that the
line has been crossed,” Ressa told
reporters, adding she would seek
bail.
Ressa was among several
people named “Person of the Year”
by Time Magazine in 2018 for
leading what it said was Rappler’s
“fearless reporting on President
Rodrigo Duterte’s propaganda
machine and extrajudicial killings”,
referring to his bloody war on
drugs.
Presidential
spokesman,
Salvador Panelo, said a crime
had been committed, a court
had found probable cause, and
Rappler was not being penalized
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
for its reporting.
“This is nothing to do with
freedom of expression or freedom
of the press,” he told news channel
ANC.(A. Hachero, Malaya)