Youth advocates and lawmakers are asking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to prioritize bills that want to control the consumption of alcohol, sugary drinks and vapes.
MANILA, Philippines – “Nutrition is an investment (Nutrition is an investment),” wrote one health lawyer in one of the 20 letters written to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.all calling for the existence of a good food environment for young people.
Along with other lawyers and lawmakers, the student-led Youth Health Alliance is asking Marcos to introduce bills aimed at increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, electronic cigarettes or vapes, and sugary drinks, before the President’s Fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27.
In a press conference on Thursday, July 16, a senior member of the union Dale Pope emphasized, “In every law you pass and every decision you make, I hope the health and future of every Filipino will always come first.”
(In every law you pass and every decision you make, I hope that the health and future of every Filipino always comes first.)
2025 survey results Department of Science and TechnologyThe Institute of Food and Nutrition Research showed that children as young as 10 years old are facing evil.
Among children aged 10 to 19, 4.5% smoke cigarettes while 22.3% have already drunk alcohol.
Meanwhile, excise duty on sweetened beverages is already in place under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or the TRAIN Act, but gaps in implementation remain.
There were earlier calls higher taxes on alcoholincluding pre-mixed ones such as alcopops. The Department of Health is also looking at a total ban on vapesor a marketing strategy which does not include children. These measures are still being debated in Congress.
“The lack of quick and effective action is killing our home and costing us our future,” said senior member of the Youth Alliance for Health Arianna dela Cruz.
Albay District 1 Representative Krisel Lagman, who has approved a companion bill to increase the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, said that the current regulations no longer work due to changes in economic conditions.
“Those drinks (sweet drinks) have already been included in the TRAIN Law, but for a year they do not increase (taxes), there is no effect… (the consumer) should be aware so that he does not buy again,” Lagman said.
(Soft drinks are included in the TRAIN Act, but every year, there has been no tax increase, no effect. Consumers should feel the burden of higher prices so they stop buying those products.)
Through tax increases, young people can be discouraged from going into crime, and more revenue can be channeled into the services of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), according to University of the Philippines professor Cielo Magno.
“PhilHealth must include preventive and primary care. So our workforce must not only be educated, it must also be healthy,” He said. (PhilHealth must include preventive and primary care. Therefore, our workers should not only be educated, they need to be healthy as well.)
In one of the letters posted on the bulletin board in the press conference hall, a young teacher said she hoped that students could come to school. “healthy, strong, avoid stagnation, and away from the harm caused by bad habits and drinks.” (healthy, vigorous, free from stagnation, and safe from the evil effects of bad habits and unwholesome drinks).
Another wrote to Marcos: “I ask you to introduce proposals that will strengthen the tax on alcohol and sweet drinks…. The health of the Filipino youth is also the health of the future.” (I urge you to prioritize measures that will strengthen the tax on alcohol and sugary drinks. The health of the Filipino youth is the health of the future.)
The Youth Alliance for Health, along with the Sin Tax Coalition civil society organization, collected the letters and delivered them to Malacañang on Thursday afternoon.
“Mr. President, for your next SONA…please listen to the voice of our youth (In your next SONA, please listen to the voices of the youth),” the Pope said. – Rappler.com
