MANILA, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that hikes the excise taxes on alcohol and imposes new duties on heated tobacco products effective Jan. 1, 2020, the presidential office announced on Thursday.
The Duterte administration plans to use the additional revenues to fund the government's Universal Health Care (UHC) program and help protect the public from the ill effects of alcohol and tobacco products.
He signed the new law on Jan. 22, according to the presidential office.
The law imposes additional taxes on distilled spirits like brandy, gin, vodka, tequila, and whiskey, on top of a 22-percent tax representing excise and value-added taxes.
It also imposes additional taxes on beer and other fermented liquor.
Those who violate the new law may face a fine ranging from 10 million pesos (roughly 196,000 U.S. dollars) to 500 million pesos (roughly 9.82 million U.S. dollars) and imprisonment from five to eight years.
The new measure also exempts medicines for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol from VAT along with prescription drugs for cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis and kidney disease by 2023.
The law directs the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) to provide a list of medicines that are included in the exemption, as well as the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine and regulate the manufacture, importation, sale, packaging, advertising, and distribution of heated tobacco and other vapor products, including banning the sale to persons below 21 years old.
The majority of the taxes raised from these measures would fund the implementation of the government's health program, while 20 percent will be spent on improving public hospitals and health facilities.
Another 20 percent will be allocated for the country's efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.
"I am confident that the multi-tiered effect of this law as a cost-effective health measure to reduce smoking and alcohol consumption among Filipinos support the UHC Act," Duterte said earlier.
