Sin Tax
I am writing about the new Sin Taxes in the Philippines because some people do not understand what Sin Tax is. Funny thing is that one of my friends in Facebook even wrote "syntax" instead of "sin tax". Well, "syntax" is actually the arrangement of words in a sentence, while "sin tax" is House Bill 5727 that just recently turned into law.
Now that we know the difference between Sin Tax and syntax, at least, we can properly complain about this law. I am not a smoker, neither do I drink alcoholic beverages; so I can say that this law does not directly affect me. I have friends and acquaintances that smoke and drink a lot though, and this law hurtfully affect them. The other day, one of my students complained that the cigarette he is smoking costs 5 pesos per piece now. It only used to be P1.50. I also spoke with a taxi driver the other day, and he told me how one pack of the cigarette he smokes now costs 45 pesos and it was just 15 pesos before. Naturally, I was shocked by the big increase in prices, but I told the taxi driver that he can just "adjust" his smoking habits. Instead of smoking 4 packs of cigarettes a day, he can just smoke 1 to 2 packs. Of course, the best thing I could have told him was to stop smoking altogether, but I am aware that it is not that easy to stop from smoking if you have been doing it for years.
Talking about stopping smoking habits, I believe that we are all aware about the bad effects of cigarette smoke to our bodies. That was why I said that the best thing I could have said to the taxi driver was for him to stop smoking altogether. I had some experiences though that when I told someone to stop smoking, he went all ballistic on me, and gave me this reason: Everyone dies and he might as well die smoking. The problem with dying by reason of smoking cigarettes is that it is a rather painful death (it's usually because of lung cancer), and you'll die ugly (seriously, smoking can dry your skin, increase your wrinkles, makes you ugly). To know more about the bad effects of smoking, check this link: http://readanddigest.com/bad-effects-of-smoking/
Thankfully, I also know a lot of people who used to smoke but stopped smoking by their mere will - without the aid of medicine or any rehabilitation program. I wish more smokers would do this.
To know more about the Sin Tax, click this link: http://www.gov.ph/sin-tax/
Talking about stopping smoking habits, I believe that we are all aware about the bad effects of cigarette smoke to our bodies. That was why I said that the best thing I could have said to the taxi driver was for him to stop smoking altogether. I had some experiences though that when I told someone to stop smoking, he went all ballistic on me, and gave me this reason: Everyone dies and he might as well die smoking. The problem with dying by reason of smoking cigarettes is that it is a rather painful death (it's usually because of lung cancer), and you'll die ugly (seriously, smoking can dry your skin, increase your wrinkles, makes you ugly). To know more about the bad effects of smoking, check this link: http://readanddigest.com/bad-effects-of-smoking/
Thankfully, I also know a lot of people who used to smoke but stopped smoking by their mere will - without the aid of medicine or any rehabilitation program. I wish more smokers would do this.
To know more about the Sin Tax, click this link: http://www.gov.ph/sin-tax/
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