SNACK manufacturers appealed to Congress to avoid raising taxes on food items as the country is still recovering from a recent surge in food inflation.
The appeal came as a reaction to proposals by economic managers to place additional taxes on salty foods to help address Filipinos’ health problems while generating additional revenues for the government.
Kent Kho, treasurer at the Philippine Confectionery, Biscuit and Snack Association (PCBSA), on Monday, June 26, said while their membership appreciates the government’s need to generate much-needed funds, new taxes on food “might be met with criticism by already overburdened consumers.”
Kho said that while salty foods are considered by some as mere junk food, they have become an affordable staple for many who live below the poverty line.
“We have learned that fish crackers are being consumed as ulam (viand) by the poor. That is why some of our members are marketing their snacks as chicken inasal, adobo or tempura flavored,” he said.
Co said Filipinos do not suffer from widespread obesity unlike some “first world” societies in the West.
“Our problem here (in the Philippines) is malnutrition so taxing food even more may not be a good idea,” he added.
For his part, Jesus Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), said that by putting salty snacks out of the reach of poor families, the government may be missing out on an opportunity to introduce vitamin fortification to their diet.
“They (snack manufacturers) are also required to add fortification (vitamins) to their products. If the poor can no longer afford chicheriya (colloquial term for junk food), how will they have access to those life-giving vitamins,” he said.
Arranza said that instead of looking at salty foods as the source of additional revenues, economic managers can take a hard look at the country’s smuggling problem, which deprives the government of billions of pesos in annual revenues.
“They should go after the smugglers who are running scot-free… and government can make billions upon billions in revenues,” he said. (PNA)/PN
