MANILA: Cagayan De Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Wednesday said the estimated PHP800 million in taxes allegedly unpaid by vape brand Flava has compromised the access of millions of Filipinos to universal healthcare.
In a statement, Rodriguez noted that based on the hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the 14,000 boxes containing 1.4 million illegally imported Flava vapes it seized last Oct. 27 had a total dutiable value of about PHP 728 million, on top of the PHP770 million in excise taxes plus PHP84 million in the 12-percent value added tax (VAT).
“You see how the government is shortchanged by about PHP800 million in import duties, excise tax as well as VAT,’ he said.
‘This ultimately redounds to a big loss in tax revenues intended for universal health care granting medical access to all Filipinos through the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)’, Rodriguez added.
The lawmaker urged the Department of Trade and Industry (
DTI) to order the giant online marketplace Lazada to stop its vendors from selling Flava.
“Flava and e-cigarettes are still in the market, in spite of all being done here (at the House of Representatives). Let us not allow them to continue selling, especially to minors,’ he said, as he commended Lazada’s rival Shopee for adhering to the call to stop Flava sales on its platform.
Rodriguez was co-author of Republic Act No. 11900, or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, which prohibits the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes to minors, while also requiring health warnings posted on the label as well as promotional materials online and in physical stores.
Rodriguez said the House panel wants to finish its investigation on the alleged “multi-million-peso tax-evasion scheme” before Congress goes on its Christmas break.
He said the committee report on the Flava tax-evasion issue will be out this week, and expressed optimism that the panel’s solid findings so far will aid the BOC and the Bu
reau of Internal Revenue in filing criminal cases against the erring companies and personalities.
“We cannot evade the law. We cannot evade taxes. The long arm of the law will reach you,” Rodriguez said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
