The State of Illicit Tobacco Trade in the Philippines
Join us as our presenters Monica Lavares, Lester Geroy, and Paolo Encarnacion discuss their findings on the state of illicit tobacco trade in the Philippines.
Join us as our presenters Monica Lavares, Lester Geroy, and Paolo Encarnacion discuss their findings on the state of illicit tobacco trade in the Philippines.
Despite efforts to address tobacco as the leading risk factor driving death and disability across all in the Philippines, government initiatives in countering illicit trade of the product have been said to be uncoordinated and poorly implemented.
Because tobacco taxation reduces cigarette consumption (improving public health outcomes in the process) and contributes to government revenue, the presence of an illicit tobacco market diminishes the public health and fiscal gains of cigarette levies by making cheaper non-taxed cigarettes available.