[B-Side Podcast] Finding the Sweet Spot: How Sugar Taxes Can Fight Obesity and Offset Inflation Impacts

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