Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said they will request President Arroyo to certify the sin tax bill as urgent as the pressure to raise taxes and meet fiscal targets linger on.

In a hastily-called press conference, Teves said they are hoping that the new sin tax law, which is part of the excise tax on sin products such as tobacco and alcohol, could be prioritized by the executive branch once the senate or congress passed it.

"Its wishful thinking (but) I'd like this to be approved before the end of the first quarter. I have no control since it is the decision of Congress," said Teves.

He explained that the government needs extra revenues to bankroll higher spending on infrastructure and social services.

"We need the revenues now to increase the level of spending," he added.

This year, the government expects a wider deficit of P102 billion, or 1.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), from P75 billion or 1 percent of GDP last year due to the global economic slowdown.

The proposed bill, filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson under Senate Bill No. 2980, is expected to raise between P89 billion and P112 billion over the first three years and between P60 billion and P70 billion annually starting the fourth year.

Slightly lower than the earlier projection of P90 billion to P120 billion, the sin tax targets were affected by the delay in the implementation of technology-based reforms to be adopted for cigarettes.

Teves said the government is focusing on the sin tax law after a survey conducted by the Social Weather Station in 2007 showed that 82 percent of Filipinos are in favor of increasing the tax on vices particularly cigarette and alcohol products.

Currently, a four-tier system—a mix of specific and ad valorem tax—is in place since 1997 wherein cigarette brands are classified into four categories: low, medium, high, and premium.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran said current structure creates too much room for discretion for the taxing authority and is prone to downshifting of consumption from high-priced brands to low-priced brands.

The finance chief is confident that the sin tax bill would be passed despite strong lobbying from various groups that are likely to block the passage of a new law that would impose a uniform tax on cigarettes.