An individual is photograph vaping an electronic cigarette in Quezon City on May 31, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA -- The Philippines had about 9.5 million new smokers aged 10 and above from 2021 to 2023, according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian. 

During Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on the rising illicit trade on excisable products such as tobacco products, Gatchalian, Chair of the Committee, said based on his office’s study on various government data, of the 9.5 million, about 1.1 million smoked illicit cigarettes.

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Citing data from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), Gatchalian said the country was winning the war against smoking prevalence from 2015 to 2021 when the prevalence dropped from 18% to 14%, respectively, but there was a reversal after 2021. 

From 14% in 2021, the prevalence went up to 18% in 2023. 

“In other words, we are back to square one,” Gatchalian said. 

There was also a drop in excise tax collection from P176 billion in 2021 to P134 billion in 2023.

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The FNRI affirmed Gatchalian’s data. According to Chona Patalen, Supervising Science Research Specialist of FNRI, new smokers are smoking electronic cigarettes. 

Dr. Maria Encarnita Limpin, Director General of Action on Smoking & Health, Philippines (ASH, Phil.), said the number of new smokers is a cause of alarm. 

“More young being introduced into the smoking addiction means that there will be more people who will eventually get sick and die from tobacco related diseases,” Limpin said. 

She said there are various possible reasons for the increase in new smokers despite the tax imposed on tobacco products such as the proliferation of illicit trade and the use of electronic smoking devices. 

Limpin cited a study in Australia on 5,000 adolescents who only vaped. The study concluded that these adolescents have five times more likelihood to go into smoking. Limpin then criticized the Vape Law. 

“Instead of being able to regulate the use of vape, we ended up enticing the young into vaping, which eventually made them also go into smoking,” Limpin said. 

“There are also in other countries, they have actually also shown that more than 50% of those who vaped are also smoking at the same time. So kumbaga sa ano po, it’s not just one risk factor but there are now two risk factors. So double whammy po, double injury ang nagiging dahilan kung bakit nagkakaroon ng maraming problema tayo,” she added. 

According to Limpin, about 117,000 Filipinos died in 2017 from tobacco related diseases. In 2019, there were 112,000 deaths.

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“Electronic smoking devices is equally harmful as tobacco. There is no study that can be presented in this hall that will be able to show to anyone that the use of electronic smoking devices will not cause harm to people,” Limpin said. 

ASH, Philippines suggested further increase in taxation of tobacco products, and to make taxes on electronic smoking devices equal to those of tobacco products. 

The Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) agreed with ASH, Philippines and said it will oppose any legislation that will reduce tobacco tax. 

ENFORCEMENT IS KEY 

For the Action for Economic Reforms, rather than decreasing taxes, the government should focus on enforcement to mitigate illicit trade.

Online platforms, particularly Shopee and Lazada, were questioned on their interventions to prevent the sale of illicit tobacco products considering that according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), they have taken down millions of illegal posts. 

Shopee said it is enhancing system modifications, while Lazada will conduct proactive sweeps and identify listings not compliant to the law. 

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) agreed that the highest prevalence of illicit trading is in Mindanao. Captain Oliver Tanseco said they have confiscated smuggled excisable goods such as illegal tobacco products in Zamboanga, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Government losing billions in excise tax collections from illicit trade 

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said they have filed cases against smugglers and illicit traders. 

BOC Assistant Commissioner Attorney Vincent Maronilla said they had 389 tobacco seizures in 2024 amounting to P4.1 billion, and 48 seizures of electronic cigarettes and vapor products amounting to P5.1 billion. 

Based on inputs from various resource persons, Gatchalian proposed to include local government units in going after the illegal trade, introduce penalties specific to manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, impose a single tax rate on all vapor products, enforce the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and strengthen enforcement, among other recommendations. 

The Department of Finance (DOF), for its part, said it is doing its own study for possible solutions and is open to suggestions.