Assessing the Impact of the Philippine Sin Tax Reform Law on the Demand for Cigarettes

One of the significant legislations during the Aquino Administration was Republic Act 10351, otherwise known as the Sin Tax Reform Act of 2012. Considered a landmark legislation, the law addressed the long-standing structural weaknesses of the country’s tobacco tax system. It considerably increased the specific excise tax on tobacco and tobacco products, simplified the tax structure, removed the price classification freeze and indexed the tax rates to address inflation. Prior to the reform, tobacco taxation in the country followed a complex four-tiered tax system using a tax base freeze at 1996 price levels. And since the excise tax was not indexed to inflation, prices of tobacco products in the country were among the cheapest in the world despite the increases in excise tax over the years (Quimbo et al., 2012). In contrast, the current law provides a two-tiered system effective January 2013 with a gradual shift to a single and uniform rate taxation starting 2017, after which the rate will be increased by 4% every year effective January 2018. The current system is considered simpler and more efficient in raising tobacco taxes

The Philippine Sin Tax Reform Law: Is It Effective in Reducing Cigarette Consumption?

The Philippine government should continue the increase in excise tax on cigarettes and tobacco products to sustain the impact of the Sin Tax Reform Law (2012) in lowering tobacco consumption in the country. This Policy Brief explains why the policy measure is significant and offers recommendations where the government can further intensify the impact of the tax policy reform

The Awareness and Applicability of McDonaldization in an Academic Library in the Philippines

Academic libraries continue to innovate its resources and services to exceed the expectations of its millennial users by reconsidering new trends in management. This is because millennials have varied attitudinal behavior, changing needs and technological skills. Library managers then need to rethink management strategies to address such and eventually to improve library services. One management concept could be the use of McDonaldization in the library. Ritzer (1996) introduced the concept of McDonaldization in his book entitled “The McDonaldization of Society” wherein he argued that the principles of the success of American hamburger chain has a great impact not only in economic patterns but also other facets of the society in general. According to Crossman (2017), McDonaldization is the rationalization of production, work, and consumption. It is characterized by four dimensions namely: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control which have favorable and irreversible changes. On the other hand, Larney (1996) stressed the negative effects which include the ecological impact, dehumanizing effect and quantity over quality in products and services. These effects are not only limited to the fast food industry but also in educational institutions particularly on the information sectors like academic libraries. The increasing pressure for colleges and universities to control costs and maximized efficiency contributed to lessening the independence of faculty, including library staff (Quinn, 2000). However, McDonaldization concept is not a popular management concept among librarians in the Philippines. Thus, the main thrust of this study is to answer the following questions: 1) What is the level of awareness of academic librarians on McDonaldization in academic library; and 2) What is the level of applicability of McDonaldization as a management strategy in the academic library. It made use of quantitative method of research using a researcher-made survey questionnaire and was conducted in the second semester of schoolyear 2017-2018. Data were gathered from 10 professional registered librarians from Saint Mary’s University Learning Resource Center, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. Descriptive statistics like median was used to describe the data gathered. Interview was also used to further deepen the analysis and interpretation of data. The study found that librarians are highly aware of the concept on McDonaldization and they revealed that it is highly applicable as a management strategy in academic libraries. Interview also revealed that unknowingly McDonaldization had been introduced or practiced in the different aspects of library work using the four dimensions namely efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. The “McDonaldized Library” is heavily attributed to the proliferation and advancement of Communication and Information Technologies. This concept has its own advantages as well as disadvantages such as dehumanizing effect among librarians and quality of library services thus it is recommended that a complete and thorough study on the use of McDonaldization as a management style in academic libraries be explored

Determinación del hábitat potencialmente utilizable por la especie Salmo trutta en un tramo del río Lozoya, España

En el presente trabajo se efectua la estimacion del habitat potencialrnente utilizable (HPU) y del caudal que lo maximiza para los estadios de vida adulto, juvenil, alevin y freza de la especie Salmo trutta (trucha comun), especie muy apreciada en la pesca deportiva y para el consumo humane Para tal fin, de acuerdo con la Metodologia IFIM (Instream Flow Incremental Methodology), se efectuo la simulacion del habitat fisico fluvial de un tramo de 609 m del rio Lozoya (Madrid, Espana) utilizando un modelo bidimensional de la hidrodinamica, un modelo para la simulacion del habitat y los modelos de preferencia de habitat de la especie antes mencionada. Los modelos fueron alimentados con informacion hidraulica, geomorfologica, biologica y de caracteristicas especificas del habitat obtenidas en campo. Los valores del habitat potencialrnente utilizable (HPU) obtenidos para los cuatro estadios de desarrollo de la especie Salmo trutta permitieron determinar que el caudal de 1.97 m3/s maximiza el HPU para sus estadios de vida adulto, juvenil y freza, y que el caudal de 1.08 m3/s maximiza el habitat potencialrnente utilizable para su estadio de desarrollo alevin. Las curvas caudal-habitat potencialrnente utilizable obtenidas en el presente trabajo constituyen informacion valiosa para los usuarios y los gestores de los recursos fluviales del rio Lozoya, con miras a establecer un regimen de caudales ecologicos que permita conservar el ecosistema correspondiente y, en caso necesario, evaluar los impactos relacionados con posibles modificaciones del regimen de caudales