TOBACCO farmers believe that Sen. Franklin Drilon wants to kill the tobacco industry with his version of the sin tax reform bill.

According to the Philippine Tobacco Growers Association (PTGA), Drilon used “questionable data and warped statistics” in defending his measure.

PTGA president Saturnino Distor noted that Drilon’s statements during the plenary debates on the proposed excise tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol products revealed his strong bias against the tobacco industry. Distor said that the senator’s ultimate goal is to eradicate “our only stable and profitable means of livelihood.”

Distor recalled that Drilon had repeatedly insisted during the plenary debates that his substitute excise tax reform bill was not a fiscal reform package, but a “critical health reform measure in the exercise of the government of its police power.”

“In fact, we even heard Senator Drilon saying that he was willing to sacrifice the revenues that would be generated from the excise tax increases in exchange for fulfilling the health objectives of his measure,” the PTGA head said.

Drilon’s proposal increases taxes on low-priced cigarettes by 341 percent on the first year, and calls for additional hikes that would amount to 1,076 percent on the fourth year of the bill’s implementation.

Given that low-priced and hand-rolled cigarettes comprise 65 percent of the market, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson during the plenary debates pointed out that the extremely high taxes would reduce cigarette consumption and result in lower sales volumes and less taxes.

But Drilon said that a revenue decline is acceptable “if it will result in less people smoking.”

Distor noted that Drilon’s proposed radical tax hikes would wipe low-grade cigarettes out of the market.

The group belittled the senator’s assurances that his bill would protect their interests, saying that Drilon has no idea about the scarcity of government aid for them.