Youth Health Investment: Calls Mount for Higher Taxes on Drinks, Alcohol in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – “Ang nutrisyon ay investment (Nutrition is an investment),” wrote one youth health advocate in one of about 20 letters addressed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., all calling for a healthier food environment for the young. Along with other advocates and lawmakers, the student-led Youth for Health Coalition is asking Marcos to prioritize bills seeking to increase taxes on alcoholic beverages, e-cigarettes or vapes, and sweetened beverages, ahead of the President’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27. In a press conference on Thursday, July 16, coalition core member Dale Papa stressed, “Sa bawat batas na inyong ipapasa at bawat desisyon na inyong gagawin, sana po ay kalusugan at kinabukasan ng bawat Pilipino ang laging mauna.” (In every law you pass and every decision you make, I hope that the health and future of every Filipino always come first.) 2025 survey results of the Department of Science and Technology‘s Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed that children as young as 10 years old are exposed to vices. Among children aged 10 to 19, 4.5% are smoking while 22.3% have already been drinking alcohol. Meanwhile, excise taxes on sweetened beverages are already in place under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law, but gaps in implementation remain. There were earlier calls for higher taxes on alcoholic beverages, including pre-mixed ones like alcopops. The Department of Health is also eyeing a total ban on vapes, or a marketing approach that excludes minors. These measures are still being deliberated on in Congress. “The lack of immediate and effective action is killing our home and costing our future,” Youth for Health Coalition core member Arianna dela Cruz said. Albay 1st District Representative Krisel Lagman, who has co-authored a bill to increase taxes on sweetened beverages, argued that current regulations no longer work given the changes in the economic landscape. “Kasama na siya (sweetened beverages) sa TRAIN Law, pero annually, hindi naman nag-i-increase [ang tax], wala nang impact…. Dapat umaray [ang mamimili] — maramdaman para hindi na bibilhin,” Lagman said. (Sweetened beverages are included in the TRAIN Law, but annually, there have been no tax increases, there’s no impact. Consumers should feel the burden of higher prices so they would stop buying such products.) Through a tax increase, the youth could be discouraged from getting into vices, and more revenues can be funneled into services of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), according to University of the Philippines professor Cielo Magno. “Ang PhilHealth po dapat kasama ang preventive and primary care. So hindi lang dapat edukado ang ating workforce, kailangan malusog din sila,” she said. (PhilHealth should include preventive and primary care. So, our workforce shouldn’t just be educated, they need to be healthy, too.) In one of the letters lined up on the bulletin boards at the venue of the press conference, a young teacher said she hopes that students can come to school “nang malusog, masigla, nakaiwas sa pagkabansot, at malayo sa mga pahamak na dulot ng mga nakasasamang bisyo at inumin” (healthy, energetic, free from stunting, and safe from the harmful effects of vices and unhealthy beverages). Another one wrote to Marcos: “Hinihiling ko po na bigyang-prayoridad ninyo ang mga panukalang magpapalakas sa alcohol tax at sweetened beverages…. Ang kalusugan ng kabataang Pinoy ay kalusugan din ng kinabukasan.” (I appeal to you to prioritize measures that would strengthen taxes on alcohol and sweetened beverages. The health of the Filipino youth is the health of the future.) The Youth for Health Coalition, along with civil society group Sin Tax Coalition, collected the letters and delivered them to Malacañang on Thursday afternoon. “Mr. President, sa inyo pong nalalapit na SONA…pakinggan ‘nyo po ang boses naming mga kabataan (In your upcoming SONA, please listen to the voices of the youth),” Papa said. – Rappler.com