The House of Representatives on Monday afternoon, Nov. 14 approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to impose a P100 excise tax on single-use plastic bags, which have long been said to be a major cause of environmental pollution.
Also known as House Bill (HB) No.4102, the measure proposes to raise the old excise tax on single-use plastic bags (P20) by 400 percent.
Deputy Speaker and Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab, who presided over Monday's session, said 255 House members voted in favor of the bill. Only three voted in the negative, while none abstained.
The bill is a consolidation of two related measures authored by Albay Rep Joey Salceda, Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing, and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing.
The authors said plastic pollution poses a major threat to the environment, particularly bodies of water such as rivers, where fishermen depend on for their livelihood.
Salceda said the Philippines is the third largest contributor to plastic pollution, with 2.7 million to 5.5 million metric tons of plastic waste generated each year. A fifth of this finds its way into the ocean.
Under the mesaure, a P100 tax would be imposed on every kilo of single-use plastic bags removed from the place of production or released from the Bureau of Customs (BOC). The tax would be increased by four percent every year starting on Jan. 1, 2026.
The bill defines “single-use plastic bags” as “secondary level plastics made of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer such as ‘ice,’ ‘labo,’ or ‘sando’ bags, with or without handle, used as packaging for goods or products".
The filing of a return and payment of the tax shall be governed by the National Internal Revenue Code. Applicable penalties under the code would be imposed on violators.
Revenues from the tax shall be allocated to programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the implementation of Republic Act (RA) No. 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, in municipalities.