SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
F irst R eg u lar S ession 
)
SENATE
s. B. No. 
7  n
ifi TIME:
BILLS S( INDEX
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR ALAN PETER “COMPANERO" S. CAYETANO
AN ACT IMPOSING A CIGARETTE FLOOR PRICE ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS 
TO PREVENT ACCESS THERETO BY THE YOUTH AND TO ADDRESS THE ILLICIT TRADE OF
TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO CHILDREN
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
- 
Psalm 127:3 (NLT)
Decades from now, today’s children will be the leaders and movers in society. They will 
assume leadership positions and shape the direction of the nation. However, some children may 
already face a bleak future due to circumstances that they are in at the moment. For instance, 
children like Joshua and Gian, aged nine and six respectively, who make a living scouring mountains 
of trash for recyclable items to sell. In a news report, they were featured as hardly being able to 
make enough money for themselves, yet every day, after spending hours clawing through garbage, 
they visit a sari-sari store to buy cigarettes out of their own hard-earned money.1 Not only does this 
deprive them of enough resources to buy essentials like food; it also puts their health at risk.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the World Health Organization 
(WHO), as of 2011, nearly 3 out of 10 high school students have smoked cigarettes.2The percentage 
of Filipino teens aged 13 to 15 who smoke rose from 19.6% in 2003 to 27.3% in 2011.3 In the data 
from the Department of Health (DOH) and WHO, as of 2012, 17 years old is the average age of 
young smokers in the Philippines. One in 10 non-smoking Filipino youth intends to smoke the 
following year. Half of youth smokers have purchased cigarettes from a store; while the rest got 
their sticks from informal sources such as dole-outs from close relatives and peers.
Despite the increase in sin taxes and other-anti-tobacco measures, Nielsen Corporation 
(formerly AC Nielsen), a global marketing research firm, reveals that smoking has not significantly 
decreased. In fact, it posted a 7% increase in 2014 and prevalence is projected to increase by 5.9% 
in 2015. What happened was there was a mere shift in the use of economy-priced brands.4
In the Philippines, Filipino smokers consume over 3.5 billion packs of cigarettes a year, 
according to WHO-Tobacco Free Initiative. Due in part to anti-tobacco legislation, industry 
estimates reveal that the average daily consumption declined slightly from 2012 to 2013 as 
consumers reacted to changes in prices brought about by increases in excise taxes. While cigarette 
prices increased, downtrading or switching from a high priced brand to a cheaper brand increased 
to an all-time high of more than 70% based on tobacco industry data. The proliferation of cheap 
brands in the market exacerbates downtrading, which is fueled by the smuggling of cheap 
cigarettes into the country.
lhttp://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/261506/newstv/reportersnotebook/pinoy-child-smokers-on-the-rise-aided- 
by-cheap-cigarettes
2Global Youth Tobacco Survey Fact Sheet 2011, available at 
http://www.wpro.who.int/philippines/mediaceiitre/factsheet/GYTS_2011 .pdf?ua=l.
3Supra note 1.
4 http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco-in-the-philippines/report