The labor group Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines on Monday slammed the government-proposed measure to impose tax on salty food and food ingredients, and instead recommend that government develop healthier, affordable and accessible alternatives than levying tax on salty food.
“With this measure to tax salty food, the government is pushing the poor informal sector workers and their families to fall into deep poverty rather than building ladder to help and empower them,” Gerard Seno, ALU-TUCP national executive vice president, said.
“There is no need to tax salty food and ingredients at this time. We rather strongly recommend government to develop research-and-development-based healthier, cheaper alternatives and options and make these accessible in the market,” he said in a statement.
“But if we raise their income, have developed and made these cheap, healthy food and ingredients alternatives very accessible to the market, then that’s may be the time that we talk about imposing tax on salty food,” Seno said.
Seno said poorly-waged working people and their families are aware that most of their daily meals that they can afford to buy with their meager daily budget are those foods with salty ingredients are mal-nutritious, unhealthy and brings ill-health to their family such as instant noodles, food flavoring, snacks, and dried fish.
However, because of their meager salary, short term, temporary jobs, inadequate social protection safety nets, poor workers have no choice but to purchase these because they are cheaper and more available in the market.
“Workers and the poor informal workers and their families affinity to salty food is bound by their inadequate income and lack of alternatives in the market. They cannot afford to buy healthier food choices and food ingredients with their measly income level,” Seno said.
The country’s minimum wage ranges from the highest at P537 a day and the lowest at P280 a day.
“With these paltry current minimum wage rates amid the rising cost of living, the working poor have no other choice but to buy food with what affords their small income even if it is high with sodium content,” Seno said.
Aside from developing alternatives and raising wages, government must regulate private manufacturing firms to reformulate the standard sodium contents of food, food ingredients and snacks.
Government should also pick up the slack in its responsibility to conduct massive education and information dissemination informing its citizens about other better alternatives and healthier food and ingredients options.