Duque takes back proposal to tax salty products

MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III conceded that his earlier proposal to tax salty products usually consumed by the poor may be deemed antipoor but there remained a need for the country to put in place public health policies that would reduce Filipinos’ unhealthy consumption of salt.

Duque made the proposal after the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases showed that cardiovascular diseases and diabetes were already costing the Philippines P756 billion annually in health care costs and lost productivity.

Filipinos’ daily salt intake is already twice the World Health Organization’s recommended level of 5 grams and Duque said he was already in discussions with Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on how the public could be more informed about their salt consumption.

Duque said one way was to set a limit on salt content, especially for junk food. —Jovic Yee