By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
LILY G. TERRENIO, 55, stocks up on instant noodles, powdered milk, canned sardines and other processed foods at the end of each month.
A single woman who has been jobless since she returned to the Philippines in 2021 after working as a chambermaid in the United Arab Emirates for five years, she lives off P25,000 ($435) that her sister from Dubai sends every month.
“That is all I can afford,” Ms. Terrenio, who also takes care of her senior mother, a niece and a two-year-old kid that her niece left with her, told BusinessWorld. “This is better than not eating at all.”
Canned meat and canned fish were among the top commodity items that Filipinos eat in times of need, according to a 2023 survey by business solution firm Pathworks.
Ischemic heart disease, which scientists have linked to high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, was the leading cause of death in the Philippines in 2024, according to the local statistics agency.
From January to August 2024, 60,253 Filipinos died from the ailment, where there is reduced blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a buildup of atheromatous plaque in the arteries of the heart. The deaths accounted for 19.8% of all deaths.
The Philippines is expected to have kept its spot as the seventh-largest market for instant noodles, having consumed 4.39 billion servings in 2024, according to the World Instant Noodle Association. It expects the global demand for instant noodles to reach 120 billion servings this year, little changed from 120.21 billion in 2024.
Instant noodles are high in sodium, preservatives and other chemicals, making them one of the unhealthiest food choices, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Regular consumption of instant noodles can lead to health problems such as high blood pressure, it said.
“Unfortunately, it is often difficult to tell the salt content in our food, especially when buying packaged foods,” the WHO said on its website. “Many products in the market, such as instant noodles, have excessive salt content. However, without appropriate nutrient information on the food packaging, it is challenging to assess how much salt the product contains.”
In the Philippines, the estimated daily sodium intake of adults was 4.1 grams in 2022, which is more than double the WHO’s recommendation.
“Let’s be honest: Filipinos love salty food,” Anthony C. Leachon, a doctor and health reform advocate, said in a Viber message. “Most Pinoy dishes use generous amounts of salt, soy sauce, fish sauce, or bagoong (shrimp paste) to achieve full flavor.”
Gene N. Nisperos, a faculty member at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, said poverty has pushed many Filipinos to consume unhealthy food that is often rich in sodium and unhealthy fats.
“With lower purchasing power, people are forced to buy cheaper food, which is not necessarily healthy,” Mr. Nisperos, who also sits on the board of the Community Medicine Development Foundation, told BusinessWorld in an e-mailed reply to questions. “There is really no such thing as ‘healthy options’ when prices continue to go up while wages remain low.”
“The question is, in an agricultural country rich in natural resources, why is it cheaper to buy processed or junk food than healthy, natural food?” he asked.
Inflation eased to 2.1% in February — the slowest in five months — from 2.9% in January and 3.4% a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said on Wednesday. Food inflation also slowed to 2.6% from 4% a month earlier and 4.8% a year ago.
Food commodities have been a major driver of inflation in the Philippines, an agricultural nation that heavily relies on imported food.
In January, inflation-adjusted wages were as much as 25% lower than the daily minimum wages across regions in the country. In peso terms, real wages were lower by as much as P131.45 than the daily minimum wages set by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, according to data compiled by BusinessWorld.
Mr. Leachon said ischemic heart disease and other lifestyle diseases cost the national economy about P756.5 billion yearly, equivalent to 4.8% of the country’s annual gross domestic product.
“This figure includes the direct costs of noncommunicable diseases associated with treatment and the indirect hidden costs arising from reduced productivity in the workplace and premature death of workers,” he added.
Despite their risk to the national economy, the government has largely failed to come up with policies against heart disease, Mr. Leachon said. “We don’t have solid long-term programs to curb ischemic heart disease in our country.”
Instead, the state undermines the people’s health by stripping the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) of subsidies, he pointed out. The state health insurer did not get a state subsidy in the 2025 national budget as lawmakers flagged inefficiencies in its operations.
Before this, PhilHealth transferred P60 billion of “excess funds” to the National Treasury last year so the government could use the money to fund vital projects. It was supposed to transfer P29.9 billion more to the state before the Supreme Court stopped it from doing so in October based on several lawsuits questioning the move.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said days after signing the national budget that the “zero budget” for PhilHealth should not affect the delivery of healthcare services.
‘POLICY TOOLS’
John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said government programs that seek to promote healthier diets like the national salt reduction initiative of the Health department and Pinggang Pinoy (Filipino Plate) by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute have limited scale and reach.
“Many low-income households still rely on processed and sodium-rich foods due to affordability and accessibility issues,” he said in an e-mailed reply to questions. “The lack of strong enforcement and consumer awareness limits the effectiveness of these programs.”
The Philippines in 2022 passed a law seeking a total ban on industrial trans fats by 2026.
“Policy tools to improve heart health may include stronger enforcement of the Trans Fat Free law and progressive health taxes on high-cholesterol and high-sodium foods,” Mr. Rivera said.
He also sought incentives for local agro-food players to make healthier options cheaper in the face of climate change, which disrupts farm production. He also cited the need for mass education campaigns on the health risks of unhealthy eating habits.
“Alongside policies like sin taxes on sugary drinks, new regulations should be carefully designed to avoid unintended consequences, such as making food more expensive for low-income households,” he said.
“Filipinos with cardiovascular disease will put additional strain on the public health system, increasing demand for medical interventions,” he added.
There was a proposal at the House of Representatives to tax junk food and sweetened drinks back in 2023, but it has not advanced amid opposition from business groups, which said it could burden consumers and discriminate against some companies.
Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has also bucked the proposal, which he said is inflationary.
Leonardo A. Lanzona, who teaches economics at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the poor are at a higher risk of developing lifestyle illnesses like heart disease due to the lack of health facilities and poor education.
While the rich also consume high-cholesterol food, they have the means to get treated in case they get sick, he pointed out.
“Education and health are complimentary,” he said. “Poor education leads to unhealthy forms of diet, while poor health reduces the returns from education. This vicious cycle can be causing these unfavorable health outcomes.”
Mr. Lanzona noted that while inflation might be linked to lifestyle illnesses such as heart disease, “the causation goes the other way.”
“Poor health especially among the poor reduces the productivity of workers, which then causes inflation,” he said. “It is about time we think of health not just as an outcome of economic conditions, but more as an input of production.”
Mr. Leachon urged both Houses of Congress to come up with pro-cardiovascular health bills, including a policy on calorie counting in food hubs and preventive health education in the school curriculum.
The government should also prioritize the creation of more parks, bike lanes, walk lanes and “sophisticated transportation infrastructure” to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes, he added.
“Making policies that limit unhealthy food is just one way,” Mr. Nisperos said. “But the approach to health is not just medical. For nutrition, we should not just focus on what goes onto a plate but also on how, if ever, food gets onto that plate.”
“The approach should be multisectoral, beginning with the food producers in the supply chain,” he added.
This article is part of the Unblock Your Heart Health Reporting initiative, supported by the Philippine Press Institute and Novartis Healthcare Philippines, to improve health literacy on cardiovascular diseases. Know your numbers, understand your risks, and consult your doctor — so no Filipino heart is lost too soon. Take control of your heart health today. Visit unblockedmovement.ph for more information.
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