Miriam pushes for law to combat underage drinking

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a bill to address underage drinking in the country through the creation of an inter-agency coordinating council that would formulate government policy on dealing with this problem.

The council would be composed of representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Education, National Youth Commission and the Sangguniang Kabataan.

Under the bill, the council would guide policy and program development through the national government and local government units with respect to underage drinking; actively consult with all appropriate and interested parties including public health research and interest groups, non-government organizations and alcohol beverage industry trade associations and companies; and collect data and conduct support research on underage drinking.

"We should adopt the practice in other countries of banning the sale of alcohol to young people," Santiago said while noting that in the United States an individual has to be 21 years old in order to buy liquor.

She lamented that in the Philippines, parents and liquor-selling establishments have been lax in preventing minors from buying alcoholic beverages.

"The problem with us is that we’re too lax or we do not seem to have any scruples about selling alcohol to young people," Santiago said.

She wants to have stiff penalties imposed on owners and proprietors of clubs, bars and stores that sell alcoholic beverages to minors.

Similar to the practices of other countries, Santiago said liquor-selling establishments should require those who wish to buy alcohol beverages to present identification cards that prove their age.

Citing various studies, Santiago said young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol addiction than those who begin at the age of 21 or as an adult.

The 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study also reported that out of the 16.5 million young Filipinos, 11.6 million have tried alcoholic beverages.

The US-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2004 Vital Statistics Mortality Data also noted that alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents account for 35 percent of the annual death rate among persons 15 to 20 years old in Southeast Asia.