4 million Pinoys avoided smoking due to sin tax law, says expert

Because of the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2012, an estimated four million Filipinos were discouraged from smoking cigarettes, a proponent of the law said on Tuesday, citing results of a study.

Dr. Antonio Dans of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine noted the prevalence of smoking among adults went down to 23.3 percent in 2015 from 31 percent in 2008.

"This means there are more or less four million less smokers in the county today, because of the sin tax law," Dans said during a media presentation at a forum in Pasig City.

The National Nutrition Survey 2015 was conducted "to measure changes in the prevalence of lifestyle-related factors among Filipinos."

It also sought "to determine the impact of socio-economic status, place of resident and age on these factors."

The survey had a sampling of 10,131 households and 31,235 adults aged 20 years old and above.

The doctor, however, emphasized that the actual drop reflected more of those who decided not to start smoking than smokers who stopped smoking.

Data presented at the forum showed the prevalence of Filipinos who never smoked rose to 63.7 percent in 2015 from 54.3 percent in 2008.

In terms of age group, the biggest drop in smoking prevalence was recorded among adults aged 70 and above, from 27 percent in 2008 to 16 percent in 2015.

Meanwhile, Filipinos who belong to the lowest income group were most affected by the law. Smoking prevalence among this group decreased by more than 10 percent, from 39.9 percent in 2008 to 29.7 percent in 2015.

The case is the same for smokers living in rural areas. From 33.1 percent in 2008, smoking prevalence among this group went down to 23.5 percent.

Based on the data, groups which are more likely to respond to price changes tend to quit smoking, giving them the health benefits of the law.

Data presented at the forum showed the prevalence of Filipinos who took to smoking rose to 63.7 percent in 2015 from 54.3 percent in 2008.

An estimated 40,000 smoking-related deaths were prevented since 2013, Dans said.

The sin tax law is envisioned to curb cigarette and alcohol consumption and, at the same time, enhance revenue for government programs and reduce the categories or tiers of cigarette taxes from five to two and eventually to one by 2017.

The law, which took effect on 2013, reduces the gap between tax rates imposed on low-end and premium cigarettes every year until it reaches zero by 2017.

Cigarettes with a net retail price of P11.50 or less are considered low-end, while those with higher retail price are classified as premium.

By January 1, 2017, the unitary tax rate of cigarettes will be P30 regardless of brand.— VS/ALG, GMA News