The possible Effects of Sugar-sweetened Beverages Tax To Pinoy Household

The majority of the Filipinos are very fond of sweets. One of the most popular in the crowd is sugar-sweetened beverages. Perhaps due to its refreshing taste and affordable price. However, the Philippines Congress pushed an excise tax to such beverages which are under House Bill 292. There will be an excise tax of P10.00 per liter of volume capacity and will increase by 4% every year.

What are the types of sugar-sweetened beverages that are on the list of the bill?

• Soft drinks or soda
• Fruit drinks
• Sports drinks
• Energy drinks
• Coffee
• Sweetened tea
• Non-alcoholic drinks that use sugar (in liquid or in powder form)

The list is very familiar to every Filipino household, admit it or not, we consume any of the above every day. On the other hand, there are exceptions such as:

• 100% natural fruit juices
• 100% natural vegetable juices
• Yogurt and fruit-flavored yogurt beverages that come from fruit or vegetable puréeor concentrate
• Meal replacement beverages such as electrolytes drink for infants and weight loss drinks
• Milk products such as infant milk, dairy milk alternatives, and flavored milk

Upon checking our grocery list, the huge percentage of our regular consumption of beverages goes to Lactobacillus drink, yogurt juices, iced tea, 3 in 1 coffee mix, and tetra pack juices.

However, upon checking the bill, most of the items we regularly purchased are not in the exemption. Only the yogurt is not included in the excise tax. My son is fond of Yakult and the current price is at P40.00 per pack of 5, once the approval of the bill is okay, the price will increase to P40.90. The new price of Yakult will only increase to small amount since the volume is small too.

For iced tea, we usually buy at P9.00 per liter of powdered concentrate so it will increase to P19.00 per pack as per the bill.

For our 3 in 1 instant coffee mix, we buy the ones in 10-pieces per pack at around P55.00. If a sachet is mix with 250 ml of water, there will be 4 sachet in 1 liter. So if my math is correct, the 10-pieces pack will yield 2.5 liters so the added cost will be P25. GRABE!!!

If I summed all the extra costs with our regular consumption, I will have extra expenses of at least P1000.00 per month. For a regular Filipino family, this is a huge amount considering that many of our kids are into instant beverages. On the brighter side, the regular consumption of not-so-healthy beverages will be lessened and this will promote a healthier lifestyle to the family.

Pero naman ang mahal ng alternative sa RTD coffee, pano na ang masang Pinoy? Pano na ang murang ka-partner ng pandesal pag umaga?

Imagine mainit na pandesal + butter + tubig? I cannot!

We are paying our income taxes and I think adding additional taxes like this one (just like the proposed vanity tax) is too much already.

I asked some co-mommies in a mommy group and here are some of the feedbacks I’ve got from those who doesn’t want this tax to be implemented.

Some of them on the other hand agree to the idea and even suggested to add junk foods to the list of taxable items.

As for me, there’s no need to add taxes to commodities IF ONLY the taxes are put in the right projects and will not be corrupted.

How about you dear co-parents, do you agree with this additional tax? why and why not?