MANILA — The Department of Finance (DOF) on Thursday said it is collaborating with the Department of Health (DOH) to pursue a higher tax for junk food and sweetened beverages to tackle diseases related to poor diet such as diabetes and obesity.

In a statement, the DOF said that it plans to impose a P10 tax for every 100 grams or P10 per 100 ml on pre-packaged foods "lacking nutritional value" and exceeding the DOH's thresholds for fat, salt, and sugar content.

The tax rate for sweetened beverages is also being proposed to P12 per liter, regardless of the type of sweetener used, the DOF said.

The rate would be indexed by 4 percent each year, with no exemptions to broaden the tax base.

"These measures aim to strengthen the effectiveness of the sweetened beverage tax by further discouraging the consumption of such beverages," the DOF statement read.

Once the new taxes are imposed, the government is expected to earn an additional P76 billion in revenue during the first year, and consumption of junk food is estimated to decrease by 21 percent.

"The incremental revenues from this tax package will fund important socio-economic programs initiated by the Marcos administration, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development's food stamp program. This program will provide support to 1 million food-poor households, to alleviate food insecurity and malnutrition," the DOF added.

The DOH earlier made calls for higher sin taxes on junk food, with the aim of reducing obesity in the Philippines and funding the Universal Health Care program.

"This sin tax is part of our strategies for us to be able to regulate and control these different lifestyle risk factors," then DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said last September.

Around 27 million Filipinos are overweight and obese, a March 2022 Unicef report showed.

• DOH wants higher 'sin tax' on junk food

But some critics slammed the idea of higher sin taxes on junk food, saying such a move is "anti-poor."

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