Author: user user

South Cotabato 2nd District Representative Ferdinand L. Hernandez has expressed condolences with the families of victims of the tragic campus shooting in Banga, South Cotabato that killed three, and wounded six other students.

He called for stronger measures to prevent entry of weapons in schools and improve intervention and emergency response to save lives when situations like this occur.

‘We need to improve the safety of all education stakeholders, prevent entry of firearms and strengthen emergency response,’ Hernandez said.

Hernandez, also House senior deputy speaker, also conveyed his support to the students, teachers, parents and the entire school community of Banga National High School who were affected by the tragedy.

In a statement, Hernandez said he and his family share in the grief of those affected by the incident and assured them of his willingness to coordinate with concerned government agencies to determine what assistance could be extended to the affected families.

‘We are ready to coordinate with the concerned agencies to provide whatever assistance may be extended to the affected families.’ Hernandez said.

Hernandez also urged the public to refrain from speculation while investigation of the crime is in progress and respect the privacy and dignity of the students.

The senior House official has called on parents to speak with their children, saying an open line of communication is always helpful to ensure they are returning home safe everyday.

The University of the Philippines (UP) will push for amendments to its P26.5-billion budget for next year-a huge cut from its original proposed budget, which its leader said could jeopardize the completion of long-delayed infrastructure projects and the capacity-building of its research program.

UP President Angelo Jimenez told reporters on Friday they would seek changes in the proposed funding ‘to be able to catch up with the level of last year’s.’

The Department of Budget and Management reduced the proposed budget for UP to P26.53 billion for 2027, about half the university’s request of P53.5 billion and lower than its current budget this year at P29.47 billion.

One of the priorities in UP’s funding agenda is the completion of construction of facilities and buildings that have been on hold, Jimenez said.

This includes the continuation of the construction of the UP Resilience Institute building and the Faculty Commons in the Diliman campus, as well as the National Institutes of Health building in UP Manila and libraries in the Los Baños campus.

‘Black Friday’ protests

‘We want to finish the construction [projects] that are not yet finished … We inherited those things. We are on its way to resolving many of these difficult infrastructures,’ Jimenez said at the sidelines of the 13th Korea-Asean Community of Public Exchange International Public Policy Symposium.

UP is also planning to boost its research program, Jimenez said, adding that he envisions the state university to be a center of research and innovation, not just producing outstanding graduates.

Even as the university chief talked about his plans for the institution, students from UP and other universities staged a simultaneous walkout on Friday to protest government corruption and the budget cuts in the education sector.

Called the ‘Black Friday’ protests, the demonstrations in various schools-including the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas and Far Eastern University-are also in preparation for the 54th anniversary of martial law on Sept. 23.

Activist, however, have made it a tradition to commemorate that historic event on Sept. 21 – the date preferred by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

From the government’s side, it is revenue. A product can be taxed, so raise the rate and collect more for healthcare, education, infrastructure, and basic services.

From the consumer’s side, however, it is simply another peso added to the bill. So much is the average Filipino’s cost of living these days, that the household budget has become an exercise in subtraction.

In June, Philippine inflation stood at 6.4 percent according to the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA). For households in the bottom 30 percent of the income distribution, it was even worse: 8 percent.

So it seems like an especially strange moment for the government to consider making another legal consumer product dramatically more expensive. Before Congress are proposals to impose excise taxes of P61, P66 or as much as P72.90 per milliliter on vapor products. There are also proposals to impose a new P120 to P150 excise tax on vapor or heated-tobacco devices.

Then there is HB 5207 and related bills, which take a markedly different approach: one tax of P10 per milliliter on vapor products, regardless of whether the liquid contains nicotine salt or freebase nicotine, while preserving lower tax for products that do not burn tobacco.

This is not an argument for no taxes. Rather, it is an argument against expecting consumers to behave exactly the same no matter how much the government taxes them.

At this juncture, we must ask how high can taxes go before they begin defeating their own purpose.

There are two main types of nicotine formulations used in vapor or e-cigarette products: nicotine salt and freebase nicotine. The Philippines currently applies vastly different excise tax rates to the two. Nicotine salt is taxed at P60.20 per milliliter and freebase nicotine at just P6.95. In 2021, nicotine salt accounted for essentially the entire declared market. By 2025, 98 percent was reportedly freebase. In a previous hearing, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian had estimated revenue losses from misdeclaration at P14.8 billion annually.

During a House Committee on Ways and Means hearing on August 11, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez pointed to BIR data showing that more than 90 percent of vape excise collections in 2025 came from freebase nicotine. His conclusion was blunt: ‘In reality, we already have a de facto single tax rate system for vape products. We just don’t know it.’

The tax system has essentially created an invitation to arbitrage.

HB 5207 and similar measures offer the more sensible solution, which is to abolish the distinction and impose a single P10-per-milliliter rate. The proposal is estimated to generate around P6 billion in annual collections while making administration considerably simpler.

Compare that with simply pushing rates upward. A legal 10-ml vape product already costs around P580, while an illicit equivalent can sell for roughly P350. Raise the legal price substantially and we should not be surprised when consumers discover the cheaper seller.

As PECIA President Joey Dulay told lawmakers during the same hearing, ‘Every peso added to the legal price becomes another peso of advantage for illicit sellers.’

A tax increase does not magically increase a consumer’s disposable income. The smoker or vaper standing at a store still has the same wallet. When the regulated product becomes prohibitively expensive, some consumers may quit. Others will find a cheaper product. And illegal sellers will be waiting in the wings.

HB 5207 also preserves the principle of risk-proportionate taxation. This simply means that taxation must recognize the difference in the risk profiles of cigarettes, heated tobacco and vapor products. Higher risks mean higher taxes. Cigarettes burn and produce thousands of deadly chemicals; vapor products do not. A sensible tax structure should recognize these differences without creating price distortions that hand an even greater advantage to illicit sellers. The goal should be to keep regulated products within reach of legal-age consumers while ensuring that legitimate businesses are not placed at an impossible disadvantage against the black market.

Other countries have recognized this logic. There are tax differentials between smoke-free products and cigarettes of roughly 95 percent in the United Kingdom, 90 percent in Sweden and New Zealand, and 45 percent in Indonesia. Seventeen out of 20 European countries impose substantially lower taxes on e-cigarettes than cigarettes.

This matters particularly now when Filipinos are already absorbing higher prices they did not choose. Yes, nicotine products should be taxed. Yes, the government needs revenue, including for Universal Health Care. But the objective should be to collect taxes sustainably while keeping the market compliant and legal.

Calls to simply raise vape taxes to the ‘highest level possible’ miss an important part of the equation. The highest tax rate on paper does not necessarily produce the highest revenue. What matters is how much the government actually collects after consumers, businesses and illicit traders respond to the new price.

Tax policy should therefore be judged not by how high a rate Congress can impose, but by whether that rate can actually be collected.

Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Saturday, Sept. 19, claimed that those going up against Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson may end up being targeted by him.

The senator is referring to the investigations led by Lacson on the alleged ghost infrastructure and reclamation projects in Taguig City, which is Cayetano’s political bailiwick.

‘Meron ngang iba [government infrastructure projects], napatunayan na may ghost, pero tahimik, walang imbestigasyon. So ano po ang sagot nila? Sagot nila, hindi dapat Taguig, hindi dapat kay Alan, hindi dapat yung mga Cayetano managot,’ he said in a Facebook livestream.

(‘There are indeed other [government infrastructure projects] where the existence of ‘ghost’ projects was proven, yet there is silence-no investigation. So, what is their response? Their response is that it shouldn’t be Taguig, it shouldn’t be Alan, and the Cayetanos shouldn’t be held accountable.’)

His remarks followed Lacson’s earlier response, where he said that he is only prioritizing and not asserting ‘selective justice’ on the probe in Taguig City.

This came after Cayetano challenged him to investigate other areas to prove he is not being selective.

The Senate minority leader insinuated that Lacson is targeting those speaking against him and being included in his so-called ‘priority’.

‘Pag nagkabati at sumunod ka kay Sen. Lacson, tahimik na. Pero pag ikaw nanindigan, ikaw nagsalita sa kahit anong issue na ayaw niya, ikaw ay kasama sa priority,’ he expressed.

(‘If you patch things up and follow Sen. Lacson, it’s quiet. But if you stand your ground-if you speak up on any issue he dislikes-you become a priority target.’)

The feud between the two started when Cayetano questioned the increase in Lacson’s personal net worth. Lacson then alleged that there were irregularities in Taguig City, which prompted the investigation.