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Obesity is now a rising health problem in the Philippines, with a staggering 27 million Filipinos considered overweight or obese, according to a 2019 survey by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI).
To combat obesity, the government imposed an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law, which was signed in December 2017.
However, with sustained inflation, the initial impact of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax has diminished, according to the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department of the House of Representatives.
In light of this issue, I spoke with Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III, a coordinator of Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and a columnist for BusinessWorld.
He discussed the importance of protecting the value of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax amid sustained inflation.
He also shared his insights on the implications of a higher sweetened-beverage tax in combating health problems like obesity and how it can finance other government nutrition programs.
Interview by Edg Adrian A. Eva
Editing by Jayson John D. Marinas
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