Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday urged drugstores and medicine retailers to make sure that medicines exempted from value-added tax (VAT) are easily accessible to consumers.

Gatchalian made the call after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently endorsed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 17 more medicines exempted from the 12-percent VAT — eight of which are for diabetes, four are for the treatment of cancer, and three for mental illness.

“Drugstores and retailers must ensure that the medicines covered by the VAT-free exemption are easily accessible to consumers as provided for by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act,” Gatchalian said in a news release.

Under the BIR rules, the effectivity of the latest VAT exemption began on Nov. 25.

This is the sixth time this year that the FDA updated the list of VAT-exempted medicines.

In August, the BIR included in the list 15 drugs, seven of which are for the treatment of cancer, five are for hypertension, two for mental illnesses, and one for high cholesterol.

“I am delighted to hear that the list has been expanded as this would also increase the number of consumers who would benefit from the VAT-free provision of CREATE,” he added.

Gatchalian cited the importance of providing support for those suffering from common illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension, given the high prices of prime commodities.

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the top three causes of death in the Philippines in 2023 were heart disease, cancer, and cerebrovascular disease, accounting for a combined 40 percent of mortality. (PNA)