Choose alcohol-free celebrations

The holiday season in the Philippines is synonymous with long celebrations and abundant feasts shared with family, friends, and colleagues. It is also the time when alcohol becomes especially visible through the familiar “tagay,” gift-giving, and late-night gatherings. While these traditions strengthen social bonds, they also normalize drinking and downplay its serious health and social harms.

Last October, the Health Promotion Program of the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health convened a forum, “Stop Alcohol: From Evidence to Reform (SAFER),” which reaffirmed a clear message: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Experts from the academe, Department of Health (DOH), civil society, and advocacy organizations called for the urgent adoption of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) SAFER initiative: strengthening restrictions on alcohol availability; advancing and enforcing drink-driving measures; facilitating access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment; enforcing bans on alcohol advertising, promotions, and sponsorships; and raising prices through excise taxes and pricing policies.

We echo DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo’s call for a national framework on alcohol control to guide local governments in adopting SAFER-aligned policies responsive to the realities of their communities. Public awareness campaigns led by the DOH Health Promotion Bureau and the UP Health Promotion Program, along with ongoing legislative efforts to increase alcohol taxes, are promising steps.

We urge our policymakers to support the implementation of the WHO SAFER measures.

Choosing alcohol-free celebrations can protect health, prevent harm, and ease financial pressures on families, which will allow for more meaningful traditions. Let us build a Philippines where lives are valued, and communities thrive free from alcohol harms.