BAGUIO CITY – Beer, that bubbly drink which has enlivened many social gatherings has turned up as the alcoholic beverage of choice in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), as well as in other Philippine regions.
In CAR, coming closely at beer’s heels are gin, brandy and whisky, the three alcohol beverages often interchanged in absence of the others. Rum comes as a tail-end preferred drink.
Often, anyone happening to be in one of the sari-sari stores dotting the Cordillera highland routes will accidentally come across rural dwellers asking store tenders, “Ay adding (or manong), ka-at din esay case a beer mo, ta lumako-ak kadya?” (Sister (brother), how much is your one case of beer, so I will buy?)
Or, you may have witnessed a highlander group, after downing bottles of beer, then one in the group situates an empty beer bottle on top of the table, puts a paper or coupon bond on its rim, gingerly places another empty bottle with its rim fitted neatly on the rim of standing beer bottle then challenges anyone to remove the paper or coupon bond without touching the upended beer bottle. A puzzle even hard-core beer drinkers often could not solve.
(Clue to this puzzle: Firmly hold one end of the paper and with a fast stroke downwards to the paper with your other hand, the paper slips out and the upended bottle will not fall. Magic? No! Its pure science, using speed.)
If one among the group can solve the puzzle, the puzzle-giver would usually comment, “Ay talaga baw ay nabinyagan ka sinan beer!” (Surely, you had been baptized by beer!).
To any who failed to solve the puzzle, the puzzle-giver would usually say, “Ay-ay, kulang din ini-nom mo ay beer. Tap-tapyam! (Tsk-tsk, the beer you drank amounts to little. Add more to it!).
Such typical scenarios illustrate highlanders fancy over the brownish liquid placed in a bottle and sealed by a crown cap with its distinguished serrations.
Beer is popular among the millennial while gin is often settled upon by those who engage in work that require physical activity like construction carpenters, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, drivers, stonemasons, farmers, and the like.
In Benguet farmlands, it is regular to see farm workers sharing a bottle of gin to cure their tiredness or steer off the biting cold after an honest and hard day’s labor at the fields, or, not unusual for visitors offered a cupful of gin accompanied by water as “chaser” for the drink.
Gin is the “go to” alcoholic beverage during ordinary days for those who do yeoman’s work while beer and other alcoholic beverages like “tapey,” (a famous and indigenous drink made only in Cordillera highlands) a “luxury” to them during special days or occasions.
Beer happens to be the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage across the country, accounting for 72 per cent or 2.1 billion liters of total alcohol consumption annually. Philippine import of beer has steadily increased, reaching 38 per cent or US44.7 billion last 2021.
But such “social standing” of either beer, or gin, brandy, whisky and rum on the winery wall doesn’t sit well with the Philippine Department of Health –Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR), often reminding on avoidance of imbibing alcohol drinks, in like manner it deeply frowns upon smoking.
DOH-CAR’s concern on use of alcoholic drinks was also reflected in a study “Alcohol Drinking Behavior Among High School Students in Low- Income Urban Community, Baguio City, Benguet Province, Philippines,” conducted by Erwin Tano Furiscal, Nonglak Pancharuniti and Boonyong Keiwkamka.
While the study did not specifically mention what type of alcoholic beverage was often imbibed by high school students, it concluded that “family influence, attitude towards drinking and affordability of liquor were contributing factors to students drinking behavior.”
The study recommended that families, school and Baguio city officials should be actively involved in initiating activities against alcohol drinking among adolescents.
According to World Beer Index 2021, Filipinos spend around 2,000 pesos monthly for personal beer consumption, that does not include expenses shelled out for other drinking buddies which could double. Such expense also does not include the amount for other alcoholic drinks.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) sounded the alarm over the inexorable increase in the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, distilled spirits) worldwide, for the past years.
Latest WHO report “Reducing the Harm from Alcohol – by Regulating Cross-Border Alcohol Marketing, Advertising and Promotion” indicated young people and heavy drinkers are progressively targeted by alcohol advertising, often by digital means.
Sales and consumption of local beers were severely affected during the series of government-imposed Covid-19 restrictions but bounced back with the easing of restrictions as breweries re-engineered their social marketing concepts and strategies.
A study, “The Evaluation of the Local Beer Industry During the Covid-19 Pandemic and its Relationship with Open Innovation,” stated, “With easing of restrictions, breweries focused on online markets, changed advertising strategies and planned new products. Knowing exactly what customers want would likely help the beer industry recover.”
The study was conducted by Ardvin Kester S. Wong of Mapua University, Manila; Arrianne R. Pequena, Mapua University. Corresponding authors to the study sent by their respective governments on study grants to study in the Philippines are authors, Yogi Tri Prasetyo of Yuan Ze University, Taiwan; Thanatorn Chuenyindee of the Royal Air Force Academy, Thailand; Thapanat Buaphiban of Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia; Satria Ferdil Persada, of Bina Nusantara University, Indonesia and Reny Nadlifaten of Department of Information Systems, Institut technology, Surabaya, Indonesia.
In general, the study found, “Typical low-income groups consume cheaper-priced alcohol for fun, relaxation and gatherings.” And the study mentioned a popular beer sold nationwide in the Philippines. The beer industry in the Philippines was projected by the study to “increase from US$ 2 billion to US$ 3.41 billion in 2025.”
Conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, the study, too, took into scope Filipinos regional consumption habits and preferences regarding local beers and found a decrease in the “perceived change in frequency, intake and expenses during the pandemic.” The study confirmed the changes in consumer behavior towards Philippine beer during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Statista Market Forecast, a leader in the provision of reliable business data said revenue in the beer segment in the Philippines will amount to US$ 3.23 billion this year, expected to grow annually by 7.05 percent to 2027.
But DOH and WHO are not happy over these reports. Overall, production increase in developing countries like the Philippines was partly due to establishment of subsidiary companies, joint ventures and licensing agreements with foreign corporations, WHO concluded.
“The rate of beer production – and in some cases, wine production – has far outstripped population growth over the years,” WHO noted.
Such a situation has brought about a novel twist to the law of supply and demand. Its supply is now creating the demand, instead of the other way around. And with it, WHO observed glumly, comes a host of alcohol-related problems that is now confronting governments the world over.
WHO is plainly worried about rising alcohol consumption in general and doesn’t hide this fact. While admitting that hard statistical evidence is difficult to obtain, WHO insists about “considerable increases in average rates of alcohol consumption per head of population in recent years.”
That’s not all. WHO uses the prevalence of cirrhosis of the liver which is often used as an index of the extent of alcohol problems. Excessive drinking can also lead to psychotic disorders as well as to an increased risk in cancer of the larynx, pharynx, mouth and throat, WHO and DOH warned.
In addition to health problems, there are also other social and economic problems related to excessive drinking – for the drinker’s family and the community.
Among the range of family problems are marital discord, spouse and child abuse and even poverty. “Job instability and financial insecurity within the family may be exacerbated by heavy drinking – be it beer, gin, brandy, whisky, rum or other distilled spirits,” Who explained. So also are crime, traffic accidents and absenteeism associated with alcohol.
What seems to worry DOH and WHO most is the danger that alcoholic beverages pose to the youth and women.” There is rising evidence of an increasing tendency for the young people to drink with rising frequency and increasing amounts, WHO lamented.
“Certain studies have provided data of frequency of drunkenness among young people. Particular concern has been expressed about the increase in traffic accidents by young drunken drivers.”
At the same time, WHO observed that in developing countries, there is an creased prevalence of heavy drinking among housewives, alone all day, and with easy access to alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages, especially beer, can now be obtained from vending machines.
The Philippines, like any other developing county is fully aware of the existence of alcohol-related problems. But it happens that it is caught in a dilemma. It cannot afford to take moves that will kill the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.
And the reason is simple. An industry that provides work to hundreds of Filipinos is important. Moreover, the industry guarantees a huge chunk in revenues.
As WHO succinctly put it: “Policies and programmes related to alcohol consumption reflect conflicting interests and values.” Still, WHO insists “Nations should do something to restrict the availability of alcohol in the interest of the health and welfare of their populations.”
But that is an impossible shot.
