Lawmaker files bill on higher taxes for e-cigarettes

By Maricel V. Cruz

REP. Ray T. Reyes of AnaKalusugan party-list group on Tuesday is seeking an increase in taxes on e-cigarettes, saying this will help raise funds for Universal Health Care and dissuade the youth from vaping. Reyes, vice chair of the House Committee on Health, also expressed his concern over the increasing number of teen- agers in the country that are using vape.

“It is very alarming that more and more Filipino youth are using vape and ecigarettes. Increasing taxes on these products will not only raise funds for Universal Health Care but also dissuade its use especially among young people,” he said.

The lawmaker cited the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) released in 2021 that showed 14.1 percent of school-aged children are now smoking electronic cigarettes or vapes.

“It is very alarming because the GYTS study also showed the Philippines topping the list of countries in Southeast Asia where teen vaping is on the rise,” he said.

Reyes added that while vape products are usually branded as a ‘safer’ alternative to cigarettes, they still pose many health risks.

SEN. Raffy Tulfo said the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga looks like a “ghost town.”

Tulfo, along with Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) USec. Hans Cacdac and OFW Hospital Administrator Dr. Dante Dator conducted an inspection following complaints about the hospital’s poor services and handling of patients. The senator said he was “disgusted” when he saw the condition of the hospital, which opened only on May 1, 2022.

While the hospital has 100 beds with 46 doctors and 72 nurses and a total of 200 personnel, including laboratory staff and administrative staff, Tulfo found out there were only two patients during his visit last July 1.

One patient is an employee of the hospital, and the other even came from

Tulfo was dismayed upon learning from one of his staff who tried to get an appointment through the hospital’s online patient scheduling system that the next available slot for consultation is on Oct. 10, or more than three months from now.

This prompted the senator to recommend to the hospital’s officials to fix their online portal immediately.

Tulfo also stressed the hospital’s outpatient department should be always opened to the public.

He also saw the Pharmacy Department has no shelves or drawers and medicines were only placed on trays on a table. Worse, he said the medicine supply was not complete, especially the important ones like antibiotics.

In his tour of the hospital’s departments, Tulfo noticed that the installed modern medical equipment has not been used.