A BILL seeking to raise to 21 years old the legal age for drinking alcoholic beverages has been filed at the House of Representatives to protect minors from its harmful effects.
Reps. Paolo Duterte of Davao City and Eric Yap of Benguet filed House Bill No. 1753, or the proposed Anti-Underage Drinking Act, which seeks to impose stricter regulations by penalizing both the seller and illegal alcohol consumers.
At present, anyone of legal age, which is 18 years and above, are legally allowed to purchase and consume alcohol.
Duterte noted that alcohol use is the third leading risk factor for poor health globally as it causes an estimated 2.5 million deaths every year, of which a significant proportion occur in the young.
He said on top of the health problems that alcoholism causes are “a wide variety of alcohol-related problems (that) have devastating impacts on individuals and their families that seriously affects community life.”
HB 1753 refers to “unqualified individuals” as persons under 21 years of age, or those 21 years old “but are unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, neglect, cruelty, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability or condition.”
A Barangay Council for the Protection of Children will counsel violators before handing them over to parents or guardians and subsequently, the violator will be required to attend, together with their parents or guardians, two consecutive regular sessions of counselling conducted by the BCPC. Non-compliance with the requirement will elevate the matter to the DSWD for proper disposition.
Any person of legal age or any establishment who violates any of the provisions of the proposed measure shall be punished by a fine of P50,000 or imprisonment of not more than three months. For succeeding offenses, both penalties shall apply in addition to the revocation of the license to operate a business connected with the selling of alcohol or alcoholic beverages.
If the violation is committed by a corporation, partnership, association or similar entity, the president, general manager, or most senior officers shall be held liable for the offense.
