Negrenses urge lower tax on sugared drinks

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  — Calls for the reduction of a proposed excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages,using locally-produced sugar, is getting more support.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental unanimously passed a resolution on Wednesday urging lawmakers to reduce the proposed excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages from P10 per liter to P5.

Negros Occidental board member Alain Gatuslao said their resolution also enjoin other local government units in Negros Occidental and in the Visayas region to air their support for the proposal.

Gatuslao, chairperson of the SP committee on Laws and Ordinances, said that while the government may earn P22 billion in revenues, it will have a great impact on the economy and livelihood of sugar-producing provinces whose majority of residents rely on sugar.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. is also pushing for lower excise tax on sugar, saying that the P5 levy on sugar being pushed by Rep. Alfredo Benitez (3rd district, Neg. Occ.) should be lowered further P2.50 or P2 per liter.

Benitez has already submitted a proposal to the House Committee on Ways and Means, which is deliberating on the proposed excise tax.

The Sugar Alliance of the Philippines also called on Congress for at least five to six years exemption on excise tax, as it would further bring the sugar industry down.

Lawyer Dino Yulo, spokesman of the Sugar Alliance of the Philippines, said the sugar industry is just starting its modernization to be more productive and globally competitive.

Benitez earlier said there was a proposal that 15 percent of the proceeds from the excise tax should be allocated to the sugar industry, on top of the P2 billion annually from the Sugar Industry Development Fund.

Imposing an excise tax now would just defeat the very purpose of the fund coming from government, Yulo said.

Abang-Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen S. Paduano also proposed that the 15 percent share in the projected P3.5 billion incremental revenue from the P10 per liter excise tax on sugar sweetened beverages be directly given to the sugar milling districts through the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

This would ensure an equitable distribution of the excise tax collection among sugar milling districts in the country, Paduano said.