An advocacy group urges government to collect the estimated PHP150 billion tobacco excise taxes this year by further strengthening the fight against illicit cigarette trade.
BenCyrus Ellorin, chairperson of advocacy group Pinoy Aksyon for Governance and the Environment, said that smuggled tobacco is causing collection shortfalls, undercutting the country’s flagship health and social programs which relies heavily on “Sin Tax” revenues.
Ellorin noted that for 2025, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is targeting excise tax collections of PHP329 billion, of which PHP150 billion or 45 percent is expected to come from tobacco excise taxes. Of this, PHP75 billion is earmarked for the public health sector.
Ellon further observed that this figure shows that tobacco remains the single largest contributor to excise taxes. It is estimated that one in every five cigarettes sold in the country now come from illegal sources, said Ellorin.
“Instead of legislating more taxes to increase revenues, the government should crack down hard on the flood of illegal cigarettes by enforcing laws through police, customs, and other authorities. Every untaxed cigarette stick effectively strips away health benefits meant for Filipinos. Forty billion pesos can already buy about 4 million hospital beds that could be distributed to public hospitals, which today suffer from a dire shortage of many basic needs,” said Ellorin.
“While we see increased enforcement activities by the government, no ‘big fish’ is in jail. Every day, we see media reports of seizures, but it ends there since no one is prosecuted,” Ellorin stressed.
“Missed revenues means missed opportunities for life-saving investments. The billion lost to illegal cigarettes could provide health equipment, medicine subsidies, and infrastructure support to the poorest regions, where access to health care remains fragile,’’ he added.
