Tax on Cigarettes Will Increase

Many of the Filipinos are fond of smoking tobacco and, as years progress, later upgraded to cigarettes which offers different tastes. Most of them have taken it to the next level - they became addiced.

They are physically wanting that piece of smoking stick. Because of this, health problems associated with smoking went higher and higher every year. This causes a significant effect on the Filipinos' economy as it alters every smoking worker's productivity.

The Government's solution - raise the taxes to be imposed on cigarettes. In short, make it more expensive. The reason why Filipinos became addicted is that it is not only because of the addicitive substance in it, but also because of its cheap price. The cheapest cigarette so far costs P0.12 per stick. Too cheap to avoid teenagers from buying. 

Hence, Former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez-Tan wants legislators to increase cigarette tax. The higher the price of the stick, the lesser buyer will it produce. If this strategy will be effective, the rate of smoking will significantly lower down to a level low enough to affect the entire economic and health status of the country. 

But it will be a long shot. Smoking has taken its root deep on every smoker. Thus, making it very hard to remove. But with God's help, things will go well and so will this smoking problem of the Filipinos. 

When this proposal is approved, cigarette sticks will cost 4.50 Philippines pesos per stick. 

"But it will have to go a long way before becoming true policy", said  Deborah Sy, executive director of Health Justice.