Additional P6 billion ‘sin tax’ revenue to benefit Filipino tobacco farmers

Tobacco farmers and their families would soon reap the fruits of the passage of the Philippines’ Sin Tax Law as an additional P6 billion was being earmarked for the promotion of their welfare under this year’s budget, according to a story in the Manila Bulletin quoting Senator Franklin Drilon.

Drilon said the additional funding, which sprang from the passage of Republic Act 10351 – the Sin Tax Law – in December would benefit the tobacco farmers of La Union, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and Pangasinan.

The P6 billion is said to be on top of the P4 billion allocated annually to these provinces under Republic Act 7171, which requires that ‘15 per cent of the incremental tobacco revenue collected from the excise tax on tobacco products should be set aside for tobacco farmers’.