QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Five bills seeking to require front-of-package food warning labels have been refiled in the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress, reviving an effort that stalled in previous years.
The proposed measures seek to require nutritional warnings to be placed on packaged food products, and were filed separately by the following legislators:
Health advocates say the proposed policy could help curb the country’s rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for at least 80% of recorded deaths in the Philippines.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the top three causes of death in 2024 were all NCDs, with ischemic heart disease claiming 133,373 lives or 19.1% of total fatalities nationwide.
Neoplasms and cerebrovascular diseases followed, with 76,971 deaths (11%) and 68,345 deaths (9.8%), respectively. This trend has persisted since 2023.
Despite the renewed push, all five bills have remained pending before the House committee on health for at least two months. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the House leadership have not listed them among the priority bills either.
The proposed Healthy Food Marketing Environment Act would require food companies to place front-of-package warnings on prepackaged food high in sugar, sodium, saturated fat, total fat or calories, helping consumers make more informed choices. While these nutrients are essential, consuming them in excess can lead to NCDs.
Examples of mandatory front-of-pack food warning labels on food products. Photo by Healthy Philippines Alliance
If enacted, the bill would empower the Department of Health (DOH) secretary – who would serve as chair of the National Task Force for a Healthy Food Marketing Environment – along with other state agencies, to issue policies, rules, regulations, and standards necessary for its implementation.
It also seeks to safeguard children’s health by requiring labels, such as “not recommended for children” on products with sweeteners, and by limiting the advertising of packaged food on television and radio broadcasts.
Dr. Tony Leachon, former DOH adviser on NCDs, said the passage of any health-related measure will remain a challenge unless it is actively championed by the executive branch.
He is hoping the bills would be prioritized by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), a consultative body composed of lawmakers and other government officials that help the president decide on what laws to pass.
The Ledac has not included the food warning label bills in its 44 priority measures for the 20th Congress.
Leachon recalled the experience of pushing for the passage of the Sin Tax Reform Law in 2012, stressing that strong political backing was crucial. This law imposed higher taxes on alcoholic and tobacco products to discourage consumption.
“‘Yong Sin Tax, kaya ‘yon nagtagumpay, despite the lobbying of tobacco [and] alcohol [groups], kasi may support ang presidente,” he said. “Sa amin noon, nanggaling ‘yong batas sa pangulo eh, then pababa. Then pumili siya ng champion legislator sa both sides [ng Senate and House of Representatives].”
(The Sin Tax Law succeeded despite the lobbying from tobacco and alcohol groups, because it had the president’s support. At that time, the law came from the president himself and went to the legislature. He then chose a champion legislator from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.)
Advocates had pushed for the sin tax bill for nearly 16 years until the late president Benigno Aquino III signed it into law in 2012. He also certified the bill as urgent, which allowed the Congress to vote on the measure on second and third reading without observing the constitutional rule requiring three readings on separate days.
Conflicts of interest
Enacting a health-focused measure, such as the proposed Healthy Food Marketing Environment Act, continues to be a hiccup due to lawmakers’ ties to big businesses that could pose conflicts of interest (COI), according to several health practitioners.
Although both the Constitution as well as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees contain provisions meant to curb COI, enforcement remains weak.
Amid congressional inquiries into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, some lawmakers called on their colleagues to disclose ties to contractors or political allies. Nurse and labor leader Jocelyn Andamo said such declarations should also extend to affiliations with other businesses.
“[Mahalaga na mayroong mekanismo na ‘yong mga legislators mismo natin. Mag-declare sila [kung] ano ‘yong areas na mayroon silang conflict of interest at ano ‘yong kaugnayan nila sa mga food companies,” she urged.
(It’s important to have a mechanism that would require our legislators themselves to declare the areas where they have conflicts of interest and their connections with food companies.)
In the lower chamber, former Malasakit@Bayanihan Representative Anthony Golez served as senior vice chair of the House committee on health during the 19th Congress. The party-list was closely tied to Senator Bong Go, as one of its nominees in the 2022 polls, Sittie Fharmina Balt, chairs the Friends of Bong Go organization, according to a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
Go, who chaired the Senate committee on health during the 19th Congress and the first two months of the 20th Congress, has been linked to several family-owned contractors that left 295 unfinished infrastructure projects in Davao in 2018, based on PCIJ findings.
Additionally, Golez ran in the 2025 midterm elections as the first nominee of Tictok Party-list but failed to secure a seat. The group has been flagged by election watchdog Kontra Daya for having alleged ties to big businesses.
“Although kung hindi pa ganyan ka-scandalously massive ang flooding, hindi pa nila ‘yan ma-e-expose, ‘di ba? Ganoon din ‘yan sa health, sa kalusugan,” said Andamo, stressing that lawmakers’ possible COI with food companies will likely remain undisclosed unless the issue gains widespread attention.
(The issues would not have been exposed if the flooding was not scandalously massive, right? It’s the same way with the health sector.)
Leachon also noted that potential COI often arises from how the government works with private entities.
“A lot of the things na ginagawa natin ngayon in government, may PPP, Public-Private Partnership program, na-involve ang mga moguls, huge companies. Ang hirap niyan kasi ‘pag nag-legislate ka, doon ang entanglement ng politics and business,” Leachon said.
(A lot of what we do in government now involves PPPs, or Public-Private Partnership programs, where big business moguls are often involved. The problem here is, when you legislate, that’s where the entanglement between politics and business happens.)
Closest measure
While a national policy on front-of-pack food warning labels is still languishing in Congress, Quezon City already signed its own Calorie Labeling Ordinance on March 21, 2025. It requires food establishments in the city to display calorie counts on menu boards to promote transparency.
While the ordinance focuses only on restaurants and similar establishments, the proposed national food warning label policy applies to prepackaged food sold in groceries and other stores.
Although the ordinance highlights only calories, the city government also directed establishments to provide additional nutrition details upon customer request, including carbohydrates, protein, fat, saturated fat, total fat, trans fat, sodium, and sugar.
The policy aims to dispel the misconception that calories are inherently bad, said registered nutritionist-dietitian Jirah Asa Sideco, who serves as the City Nutrition Program coordinator.
“Depende naman kasi ‘yon sa pangangailangan ng isang katawan. So kunyari overweight ka. Ang mas pipiliin mo is ‘yong option na mas low per calorie. But kailangan mo din i-consider ‘yong ibang nutrients na mayroon doon sa food na ‘yon,” said Sideco.
(It really depends on what the body needs. For instance, if you’re overweight, you would choose options that are lower in calories. But you also have to consider the other nutrients that the food contains.)
According to 2024 data, the leading cause of death in Quezon City was hypertension, an NCD, with 8,786 recorded cases. Eight of the city’s top 10 causes of mortality were also NCDs, with only motor vehicle accidents breaking the pattern, ranking last with 298 cases.
Citing the high prevalence of NCD cases, Quezon City enacted the ordinance to help curb those lifestyle diseases.
“Mayroong need para magkaroon tayo ng policy pagdating sa food environment, lalo na maraming mga Pilipino ang nagda-dine out [or] eaten away from home. ‘Yon ‘yong naging reason kung bakit na naunang i-draft ‘yong calorie labeling ordinance, then naipasa din po siya because tumataas din po ‘yong kaso ng overweight and obesity at patuloy din pong tumataas 'yong cases ng non-communicable diseases,” Sideco said.
(There’s a need for us to have a policy on the food environment, especially since many Filipinos dine out or eat away from home. That was the reason the calorie labelling ordinance was drafted first, and it was eventually passed because cases of overweight and obesity, as well as other non-communicable diseases continue to rise.)
Still, Sideco stressed that a similar initiative must be replicated nationwide, noting that residents do not dine exclusively within the city and food outlets operate across other areas.
Additionally, Quezon City restaurant owners, particularly those running micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), expressed support for the ordinance after participating in a series of public consultations during its drafting.
Among them was Jules Guiang, president of the Maginhawa Food Community, who actively joined the discussions. He noted, however, that for small businesses — especially restaurants along Maginhawa, most of which are MSMEs — compliance is costly.
“We don't know na … it will entail cost per meal. So ang main concern namin is papaano ‘yong support ng local government para doon sa pagpa-label mismo per meal,” he said.
(We didn’t know that it would entail a cost per meal. Our main concern now is how the local government will support the actual labelling for each meal.)
Though supportive of the ordinance, Guiang hopes that implementing a similar policy nationwide would involve “massive” consultations and account for the varying capacities of businesses, particularly MSMEs.
Sideco, for her part, suggested that rollout of such measures should be done in phases.
“Iba ‘yong kapasidad ng malalaking food businesses pagdating sa mga maliliit na businesses and they might require more assistance, ‘yong mga medium, small enterprises natin,” she said.
(Large food businesses have a different capacity compared with smaller ones, and our medium and small enterprises might require more assistance.)
The proposed national bill includes a provision specifically aimed at assisting small businesses, particularly those that produce prepackaged food.
Guiang also urged policymakers to first require large restaurants to comply, citing their greater “capacity” to adapt. Still, he cautioned that lawmakers’ COI could hinder passage of such a law, given their ties to major corporations.
“Ang pinaka-isa ding goal namin is to influence the national na maipasa ‘yong calorie labelling across all cities. Kasi kung ang Quezon City [lang ang gumagawa] … hindi din natin ma-achieve ‘yong overall goal ng lahat ng LGUs (local government units) pagdating sa health na to decrease the cases of non-communicable diseases,” Sideco emphasized.
(One of our main goals is to influence the national government to pass calorie labeling across all cities. Because if it’s only Quezon City doing it, we won’t be able to achieve the overall goal of all LGUs when it comes to health, which is to reduce cases of non-communicable diseases.)
Alternative solutions
While the Healthy Food Marketing Environment Act has been refiled and remains pending in the new Congress, Leachon suggested building a “solid” coalition of health advocates to push the proposal forward.
“A genuine coalition of health advocates that will override any political power. Kasi ang politics is numbers,” he said.
(A genuine coalition of health advocates can override any political power. Politics is all about numbers.)
Leachon, who also served as coordinator of the Sin Tax Reform Law, noted that lobbying for a measure is already difficult, and refiling it is another challenge altogether.
He emphasized the need for clear messaging and an “overachieving goal” that would benefit both public health and the economy.
“Ang purpose ng Sin Tax [Law] is basically to increase the taxes for tobacco and alcohol to reduce the burden of diseases and the money generated will go to health care. Ganda ng messaging … ‘Yang messaging is very important,” he shared.
(The purpose of the Sin Tax Law is basically to increase taxes on tobacco and alcohol to reduce the burden of diseases, and the money generated will go to health care. The messaging was great, and that messaging is very important.)
Andamo, while supporting the passage of a mandatory front-of-pack food warning label, stressed the need to strengthen community for barangay health workers (BHWs), who she said could serve as an alternative source of information on nutrition.
“Kasi ang nurses … very relevant ang role niya for health education,” Andamo explained. “Pero sa sistema natin na … masasabi nating very weak ang public healthcare system … Mahina ang gobyerno, mahina ang bayan natin, mahalaga na mayroong label ang mga food products na hindi naman na-po-provide ng government.”
(Nurses play a very relevant role in health education. But in our system, where the public health care system is very weak, the government is weak, our nation is weak, it becomes important to have labels on food products that the government itself fails to provide.)
However, the situation of BHWs remains another concern, as they continue to seek recognition and higher compensation.
A proposed Magna Carta that would legally mandate fair pay, job security, benefits, and legal protection for about 250,000 BHWs also failed to pass during the 19th Congress.
“Kung totoo pong mahal niyo [President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.] ang mga barangay health workers kagaya ng sinabi mo noon, huwag niyo pong hayaang maulit ang pangakong napako ng mga nakaraang administrasyon. Tapusin niyo na po ang apat na dekada naming paghihintay. Ngayon na ang panahon,” Myrna Gaite, president of the BHW Federation of the National Capital Region, said in a statement.
(If President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. truly loves the barangay health workers, as you once said, don’t let the broken promises of past administrations be repeated. End our four decades of waiting. The time is now.)
