Health advocates seek higher sin taxes to curb unhealthy youth habits

MANILA, Philippines – Health advocates on Thursday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to raise sin taxes—or those imposed on alcohol, sweetened beverages and tobacco products—as current measures are no longer enough to curb unhealthy habits among the youth.

In a press briefing, members of the Youth for Health coalition urged the government to allocate more funding for health programs that target the youth as they raised concerns regarding the rise in cases of stunting and obesity in the country.

The coalition also noted the high rates of alcohol consumption and smoking among the youth, pointing out that many young Filipinos are using vapes or e-cigarettes with the belief that it is safer than traditional tobacco products.

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“[H]ow can we be the hope of our country if our future is slowly being stolen away? If we truly believe that the youth is the hope of the country, it’s not enough to just say it. We should prove it through laws and policies that truly protect us,” said Dale Papa, a member of the coalition.

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University of the Philippines economics professor Cielo Magno said in the same briefing that increasing sin taxes would help generate income for health programs, particularly for expanding the benefits offered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

“Taxes serve two functions. One is to discourage the behavior of smoking and alcohol drinking. Second, it generates revenue,” she said. “[S]in taxes are the primary sources of revenue for PhilHealth.”

Citing findings of the 2025 Updating Survey of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), Magno noted that stunting among Filipino children below 5 years old climbed to 25.3 percent last year, up by 1.7 percent from 2023.

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“There are already many scientific studies showing that [the youth] are less likely to finish their education if they are stunted,” said Magno. “Imagine, if 25 percent of our youth is stunted and we do not reverse that, then 25 percent will not even finish high school, and that’s your workforce.”

READ: Study: 1 in 4 Filipino kids under age 5 stunted

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The DOST-FNRI report also noted that the percentage of smokers and alcohol drinkers among Filipino adolescents, or those aged 10 to 19 years old, were mostly the same in 2025 and 2023.

It found that 4.5 percent of adolescents were smoking on a daily or regular basis while 22.3 percent were current alcohol drinkers in the past 12 months.

“We already have sin taxes, but I think our government needs to realize that when incidence of smoking, incidence of alcohol drinking are increasing, it means that the current rate of taxes is no longer effective,” said Magno.

READ: Gov’t expands school feeding to fight stunting in students

In a statement, the Youth for Health coalition urged the President to include as priority measures House Bills No. 5966, 5475 and 5476, which seek to raise taxes on distilled spirits by 25 percent year-on-year, as well as fermented liquors or alcopops by 10 percent year-on-year for five years.

The group said the proposal would generate around P206 billion in total incremental revenue over five years.

The health advocates also expressed support for HB 5003 and 5969 that aim to increase taxes on sweetened beverages. The measures will raise taxes on caloric sweeteners from P6 per liter to P20 per liter, and high fructose corn syrup from P12 per liter to P40 per liter, they said.

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The same bills also seek to remove tax exemptions for flavored and fermented milk and sweetened coffee. The coalition said these measures are estimated to generate P80.9 billion in total incremental revenue over five years. /jpv