Increase in taxes pushed to protect youth from vices

Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — Health advocates and lawmakers on Thursday urged President Marcos to raise sin taxes or the excise imposed on alcohol, sweetened beverages and tobacco products, saying current preventive measures are no longer enough to curb unhealthy habits in young people.

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

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The group also cited the high rates of alcohol consumption and smoking among the youth, noting that many young Filipinos are using vapes or e-cigarettes in the belief that these are safer than traditional tobacco products.

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READ: WHO sin tax scheme ‘regressive, unfair’ to consumers, says group

Action beyond words

“[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.

READ: What is a sin tax?

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

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

DOST-FNRI study

Citing findings of the 2025 Updating Survey of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), the UP professor 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 they 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.”

The DOST-FNRI report also noted that the percentage of smokers and alcohol drinkers among Filipino adolescents, or those aged 10 to 19, was mostly unchanged. 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 … and alcohol drinking are increasing, it means the current rate of taxes is no longer effective,” Magno said.

Priority measures

In a statement, the coalition urged the President to include as priority measures House Bills Nos. 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 to P20 per liter and high fructose corn syrup from P12 to P40 per liter, they said.

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The same bills also aim 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. /cb