Growing problem

The Philippine Association of Nutrition (PAN), Inc. has urged Filipinos to make nutrition a priority.

This, following results of the 8th National Nutrition Survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), which showed that one in every 10 Filipino adults has chronic energy deficiency (CED) or nutritional deficiency.

PAN president Dr. Gemiliano Aligui explained that when a person has CED, he may have the following, if not all: inadequate food intake, impaired tissue growth, anorexia from intestinal parasitism, anorexia from trace element deficiency, and anorexia with general chronic infection.

By gender, more females (10.5 percent) are energy deficient compared to their male counterpart (9.4 percent).

The study, conducted from June 2013 to April 2014, covered all 17 regions of the country, 79 provinces, 45,047 households, and 172,323 individuals.

Despite the findings on CED, Dr. Aligui was quick to add that there was an improvement in CED statistics in the country, explaining that from 1993 to 2013, there was a decreasing trend in its prevalence from 13.9 percent to 10.3 percent.

But he revealed that while there was a decrease in the number of CED cases, there was, however, an increasing trend in the prevalence of overweight and obesity – from 16.6 percent in 1993 to 29.9 percent in 2013.

The study learned that three in every 10 adults are overweight and obese, with more females than males falling under the category.

Dr. Aligui, who is also the chair of the Institutional Research Ethics Review Committee of the FNRI of the Department of Science and Technology, also detailed the importance of complete nutrition to overall health, as proven by his study titled “Adult energy deficiency: What we should need to know about vitamins and minerals.”

He said that the significance of getting the complete micronutrients all at the same time is that metabolic processes are made efficient when all micronutrients are available in the body. Free radicals are better eliminated with a balance of micronutrients such as chromium, zinc, selenium, lithium, and vanadium,”

Dr. Aligui added that it is important to note that this observation thus dismisses the growing concern among weight-conscious Filipinos that multivitamins cause weight gain.

He emphasized that contrary to popular belief, taking vitamins actually increases metabolism, which is the process of breaking down food for energy or building body cells and tissues. Thus, one should consider filing the nutritional gap with a multivitamin that is complete with essential vitamins and minerals.

Glaring mismatch

Interesting observation by the country’s leading cigarette manufacturer.

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp., manufacturer of premium brand Marlboro, is questioning why excise taxes paid by tobacco companies and their corresponding market share in the Philippines do not match.

For instance, while PMFTC’s sales represented 70 percent of total industry sales in the first half, based on figures from market research firm Nielsen Corp., it accounted for 85 percent of total excise taxes collected from cigarette manufacturers.

Of the P28.18 billion sin taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue from tobacco products in the first half, the company contributed P23.6 billion or 85 percent of the total.

PMFTC said that the same study by Nielsen showed Mighty Corp. had around 24-percent share of the total cigarette market, followed by Japan Tobacco Inc., makers of Winston cigarette, with 2.6 percent of the market. Anglo American Tobacco, which produces Winnsboro, has 1.7 percent while  British American Tobacco had less than one percent market share.

So what PMFTC is saying that manufacturers who account for the remaining 30 percent of supply only account for 15 percent of total excise taxes.

Collection of excise taxes on so-called sin products grew by nearly a third from January to June to P46 billion or 31.6 percent higher than the government’s goal for the same period. Bulk of the total or P28.18 was accounted for by excise tax payments by cigarette firms, representing a 44.4-percent jump from the P19.51 billion recorded a year ago.

PMFTC president Paul Riley is hopeful that the BIR’s stamp tax project would help plug tax leakage and generate additional revenues for the government. The project, which seeks to safeguard the country from illicit tobacco smuggling, is expected to be implemented beginning Sept.1.

The new stamps have a machine-readable quick response (QR) code that, once scanned, will show when a particular pack of cigarettes has been manufactured and when the appropriate taxes have been paid.                                                                               

Tobacco manufacturers have until the end of the month to sell or pull out of retail shelves all products without the required stamp tax.

Mighty executive vice-president Oscar Barrientos, earlier expressed reservations over the government’s tax stamp project, saying it might not yield the desired results.

Barrientos cited a similar program that was enforced by the government but was suspended in the 1980s due to the proliferation of counterfeit stickers.

Based on a recent study done by Oxford Economics and International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), the Philippines lost some P15.6 billion in revenues due to non-payment of correct taxes by cigarette manufacturers.

The same report showed that consumption of domestic illegal tobacco grew nearly three-fold to 17.1 billion last year.

For this year, the BIR is eyeing a 22-percent growth in tax collection from tobacco and alcohol products to P104.79 billion.

Barrientos has also said that Mighty is ready to comply with the new BIR regulation saying their machines are all equipped with stamp applicators.

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