It's either Filipinos have reduced their cigarette consumption, or totally kicked the habit in an effort to avoid COVID-19.
A report submitted by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to the Department of Finance showing a decrease in the volume of cigarette tax stamp releases at 537 million (amounting to P18.8 billion), from March to June.
Revenue Deputy Commissioner for Operations Arnel Guballa said the quantity was roughly 59 percent lower compared to the 1.3 billion tax stamps valued at P59 billion issued for the same period last year.
Guballa said the drop in cigarette consumption started in the second half March when the government imposed a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
The revenue official reported that for the Month of May alone the bureau issued total tax stamps of 8.5 million as against 385 million last year worth more than P17 million.
The downward trend continued in June when the bureau released 264 million strip stamps compared to 289 million for the same period last year worth more than P13 billion.
Revenue officials believed many smokers have either kicked out the habit or minimized the use due to medical findings that smokers are more likely to catch the deadly virus than non-smokers.