Time to hoard chicherya, softdrinks, chocolates and biscuits!
To encourage children to make healthier choices, the Department of Health, Department of Education and the Philippine Heart Association said that it’s about time to implement a sin tax on soft drinks and junk food, especially the ones sold near schools.
“Yan kasi ang mura eh.. Maraming sugar, maraming salt; adds up to obesity,” said Dr. Gloria Balboa, the Department of Health’s director of Health Emergency Management Bureau.
(They are cheap… with loads of sugar and salt. It all adds up to obesity”)
“May mga sin tax tayo noon for alchohol and tobacco, ay isama na rin sila [junk food] para hindi na siya maging ganoon ka-accessible, especially to children,” she added.
(“We have sin tax for alchohol and tobacco. We might as well add junk food so that they won’t be accessible for children”)
The plans are still on the works but their goal is clear — to make children to consume less junk food and sugary drinks.
The agencies involced are counting on the Duterte administration to consider taxing unhealthy food to combat obesity.
