Stepping Up for Healthier Hearts by Reducing Alcohol Consumption

February 22, 2026 — ImagineLaw, in partnership with the Quezon City Government, participated in the “Step Up for Healthier Hearts: Sama-samang Hakbang para sa Kalusugan” event in celebration of the Philippine Heart Month. The event brought together lawmakers, public health advocates, and the general public in a collective call for a healthier food environment for Filipinos.

Alongside advocacies on promoting healthy diets, the event highlighted lowering of alcohol consumption as part of the broader food environment, considering the burden of alcohol on the same non-communicable diseases, and recognizing that alcohol consumption is shaped by the same policy environment that influences food choices.

As part of the event, ImagineLaw set up an interactive booth challenging participants to an interactive “Tama o Mali” game. The activity helped gauge the participants’ knowledge on alcohol consumption and challenged common myths and misconceptions about the harms of alcohol and key policy interventions like enforcing a minimum legal drinking age, access restrictions, drink-driving countermeasures, and raising excise taxes on alcohol. 

The activity also aimed to ramp up support for ordinances that will help protect families from alcohol harms. Through the interactive question-and-answer game and the short conversations with the organizers, many participants learned that what they know about alcohol consumption is different from the truth. Participants’ common beliefs, including “red wine is good for the heart” and “drinking moderately can have health benefits” were debunked, garnering their support for protective ordinances such as restricting alcohol-related marketing, raising health taxes for alcoholic beverages to curb consumption, and raising the legal drinking age. Stickers and tumblers were also given away to participants to encourage them to support the advocacy and increase awareness about alcohol harms in their own ways.

From initiatives like this, ImagineLaw hopes to transform public awareness into advocacy, pushing policymakers to promote safer and healthier communities for all.