Overview
- The court ruled 5–4 after focusing on standing, declining to reach the merits of expanding the exemption.
- The decision preserves the 2021 policy that applies a zero VAT rate only to sanitary pads, tampons and menstrual cups.
- Minister Irving Espinosa’s rejected draft sought equal fiscal treatment for items such as pantyliners, absorbent underwear, hygiene soaps and wipes, and cramp patches.
- The file was reassigned to Batres’s chamber to prepare a new project consistent with the majority’s reasoning.
- The majority indicated that directly affected consumers or civil society groups are the proper challengers, while ministers flagged potential commercial advantages and SHCP estimates cite roughly 6,717 million pesos in 2025 and 7,131 million this year in foregone revenue.