MANILA, Philippines – The Lower House’s Ways and Means Committee is no longer pursuing plans to remove the tax imposed on vape and heated tobacco products.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Joey Salceda announced this after President Duterte clarified that his call is not a total ban but only a ban on the use of vape and heated tobacco products in public places.

Salceda said the Department of Finance (DOT) has recommended that the House maintain House Bill 1026 that raises taxes on vape and e-cigarettes from the current Republic Act No. 11346.

But with the President’s latest statement, they are now seeking to raise the vape tax from P25/ml to the current version of the proposal and make it P45/ml.

Most of the 1 million people who use vape in the country belong to the upper-middle, and high-income class.

While 7 million out of 23 million smokers are among the lowest at 50 percent. (Chris Figueroa/IAMIGO/CNS)