Just read about Congress cutting taxes on vaping products and abolishing the travel tax, and honestly, this feels like a massive fiscal mistake that nobody's talking about enough.

So here's what's happening: The government is lowering the nicotine juice tax from P60 per mL to P10, supposedly to stop smuggling and boost compliance. And they're also killing the travel tax that currently brings in around P8-9 billion annually. On the surface, it sounds like they're trying to be smart about it. But I think they're gambling with the health of young people and education funding.

Let me break down the vaping part first. The tax discrepancy between nicotine salts (P60/mL) and freebase nicotine (P7/mL) created this massive incentive for importers to just mislabel expensive salts as cheaper freebase to dodge 90% of duties. I get why Congress wants to fix that. But their solution—dropping everything to P10—is basically waving a white flag.

Here's the thing: Youth vaping has exploded 1,100% over the last five years. Nearly 40% of nicotine users aged 10-19 are now vaping. Unlike adults, teenagers are super price-sensitive. If you make vaping cheaper, more kids will pick it up. That's just economics. And the government knows this.

If the real goal is compliance, why not try P25 per mL instead? That still narrows the profit margin enough to make large-scale smuggling less attractive, but keeps retail prices high enough to actually deter youth uptake. It's a middle ground that makes way more sense than dropping it to P10.

On the travel tax side, the argument is that removing the P1,620 fee will trigger so much economic activity that airlines and hotels will generate enough corporate income tax to replace the lost revenue. Sounds nice in theory. But the math doesn't work. That tax brought in P8.7 billion in 2025. The government uses that money for scholarships (5.4 million students depend on this), tourism infrastructure, and cultural programs. If you kill that revenue stream and the economic stimulus doesn't materialize, you've just gutted education funding.

Also, for an average international flight costing P25,000, that P1,620 tax is only 6.5% of the total cost. Research shows leisure travelers only really respond to price drops of 10-15%. A 6% cut gets buried in airline fare fluctuations and fuel surcharges. Travelers won't even notice they saved money, but the state loses billions in guaranteed revenue.

I'm not saying maintain the status quo. But this is where a data-driven trial period makes sense. Congress could test a unified P25/mL vape tax for two years, with a built-in trigger: if youth vaping rates go up, the tax automatically reverts to P60. If BIR collections actually improve, then you can consider cutting further. For travel, reduce the economy tax to P800 while keeping P2,700 for first/business class. That gives relief to price-sensitive travelers while preserving revenue from luxury travelers.

The point is, we shouldn't trade away the state's ability to curb negative externalities just because it's administratively convenient. The health of the next generation and education funding shouldn't be put at risk on a promise. Let the data decide, not just rhetoric. That's governance done right.