DOH, Philhealth must prepare to absorb sin tax collections, says budget chief

MANILA, Philippines — State health agencies might not be able to immediately absorb the expected incremental revenues from the proposed sin tax reform bill, a Cabinet official said on Thursday.

In a forum on health financing, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said that the Department of Health (DOH) would be among the agencies that should improve their capacity and absorption.

“I’m not so much worried about the difference [in the amount of revenue]. I’m more concerned about the ability of the Department of Health and Philhealth to actually absorb that huge amount,” Abad said.

The Aquino administration has proposed a version of the bill that would raise P60 billion in tax collections.

The version of the House of Representatives seeks to generate P30 billion while a committee report that Senate ways and means committee chair Ralph Recto presented would raise only P15 billion in additional revenue from sin products.