Real Talk

Certain Diabetes, High Blood Pressure Meds Are Now VAT-Free

by Kevyn Gohu
April 8, 2025

When money’s spent heavily on high blood pressure and diabetes medicines, making some of them VAT-free is a godsend for Filipino families

Filipino families have a long history with high-blood pressure and diabetes, with some Filipinos even humorously acknowledging the medical procedures to correct the formers as a “rite of passage.” But these medicines don’t behave like antibiotics. They’re taken like vitamins; only if we don’t take them, we could actually end up in the hospital. So, it’s definitely good news as certain high blood pressure and diabetes medicines, with the blessing from the DFA, are now exempted from VAT.

How important are these high-blood pressure and diabetes medicines to Filipino families?

All these medicines, if explained simply, do one thing: manage our blood chemistry. If our body’s chemistry is imbalanced, we get sick.

But for diabetes and high blood pressure, it’s not that simple. Diabetes isn’t just high blood sugar; it can also prevent our bodies from healing properly and cause gangrene. Yes, our limbs can rot because of uncontrolled blood sugar levels (Eligzyri, Apelqvist, Lindholm, Örneholm, and Annersten Gershater, 2021; Meri and Liswanti, 2024; Sutrisno, Sodik, and Fakih, 2025). Usually, gangrene starts in the foot, and sometimes, it spreads from there (Singh, Shukla, Shuklah, Singh, Shukla, and Verma, 2024).

High blood pressure, or what the medical world knows as hypertension, is what makes parents angry all the time. Sure, there’s a psychological component. But the ability to manage our rage or how fast our temper flares also relies on our diet. It’s a 50-50 thing; while we develop the coping mechanisms, our diets decide how we feel by default (Carey, Moran, and Whelton, 2022).

Why diabetes and high blood pressure can feel like a “death sentence”

Ever wonder why our lolos and lolas seem to be so miserable when they eat or get angry when forced to eat healthily? It’s because those medicines are not something anyone would like to spend on.

Some of the names may even be familiar, like Metformin. The DFA even posted a full list of which ones have recently joined the ranks of being VAT-free.

Diabetes, to many Filipino families, is a death sentence, not because of how it kills but how it forces people to change their lifestyles (Ydirin, 2021). The disease above doesn’t usually come alone either; high blood pressure usually accompanies diabetes. Unfortunately, both diseases are caused by years of eating a high-fat and high-sugar diet, which for many, is more or less 80% of Filipino cuisine (Tolentino and Byrnes, 2024).

While some will claim it’s indulgence, that’s only the surface of how complex Filipinos are in terms of eating. Stress eating has long been a Filipino coping mechanism (Serrano and Reyes, 2023). Because flavorful food is often related to the warmth of home, Filipinos search for that. Unfortunately, when work takes over, some just “accept” fast-food knockoffs because 1) they’re cheap, 2) they’re fast enough to prep and eat so it doesn’t eat into work hours, and 3) they fill the stomach. A lot of the food that actually kills is what some would call “pantawid gutom.” These foods that are capable of such are loaded with sugars and fats, stalling one’s hunger, especially after a long stressful day at work or a hectic commute home.

Eating these once a month or rarely would have been fine. But once it becomes a lifestyle, it’s hard to reverse the damage. Eventually, those medicines for diabetes and high blood pressure become our “candy” instead.

Reducing the financial load on health-related concerns

Even though senior citizens and PWDs are entitled to a 20% discount on medicines, removing VAT (Value Added Tax) is still a big help. They’ll be able to use the money somewhere else, like their hobbies that help keep them happy and strong.

The removal of VAT on certain maintenance medicines for diabetes and high blood pressure is a step in a good direction. Since many young families find themselves facing diseases like Fatty Liver, diabetes, and hypertension, it may just encourage them to invest more in healthier foods. Or even better, maybe have more freedom to finally chase their passions without the fear of getting sick.

References

Carey, R. M., Moran, A. E., & Whelton, P. K. (2022). Treatment of hypertension: a review. Jama, 328(18), 1849-1861.

Elgzyri, T., Apelqvist, J., Lindholm, E., Örneholm, H., & Annersten Gershater, M. (2021). Healing below the ankle is possible in patients with diabetes mellitus and a forefoot gangrene. SAGE Open Medicine, 9, 20503121211029180.

Meri, M., & Liswanti, Y. (2024). Unveiling cellular immunity: A study on diabetes mellitus patients with gangrene wounds. Science Midwifery, 12(1), 313-321.

Serrano, J. O., & Reyes, M. E. S. (2023). Bending not breaking: coping among Filipino University students experiencing psychological distress during the Global Health Crisis. Current Psychology, 42(33), 28857-28867.

Singh, A., Shukla, P., Shukla, A., Singh, V., Shukla, P., & Verma, A. K. (2024). FOOT GANGRENE CAUSED BY DIABETES MELLITUS.

Sutrisno, E., Sodik, J. J., & Fakih, T. M. (2025). Cost-effectiveness analysis and medication use for gangrene treatment in type 2 diabetes patients: A systematic literature review. Pharmacia, 72, 1-22.

Tolentino, D. A., & Brynes, M. E. (2024). Filipino Americans’ social and cultural experiences of type 2 diabetes management: Cultural paradox, ownership, and success definition. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 35(1), 41-52.

Ydirin, C. S. B. (2021). Health literacy and health-promoting behaviors among adults at risk for diabetes in a remote Filipino community. Belitung Nursing Journal, 7(2), 88.