COUNTRY STATUS REPORT ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: THE PHILIPPINES Constancio C. de Guzman Paper presented at the Expert Consultaon on the Promoon of Medicinal and Aromac Plants in Asia and the Pacific Region, Asia-Pacific Associaon of Agricultural Research Instuons (APAARI). Dec 2-3 2013, Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. INTRODUCTION There has been a growing interest in and awareness of a lifestyle anchored firmly on health and wellness in recent years, both in the local and international scene. These two key words – health and wellness - have become the buzzword in various multimedia platforms – from print to radio and TV broadcasts to social networks. The demand for products that promote health and wellness has been on the rise. These products range from traditional herbs with purported healing properties to culinary herbs, spices, essential oils to the more popular herbal food supplements, and related organic and functional foods. The global market value for herbal supplements and related remedies, for example, is projected to reach US$ 107 billion by the year 2017 (PRWeb, 2013). It is estimated that the functional food industry worldwide will reach 176.7 billion in 2013 with a compound annual growth rate of 7.4% (Nemade, 2010). Functional foods have a health-promoting or disease- preventing property beyond the basic function of supplying nutrients. The rapidly growing global health and wellness industry hit a record US$2 trillion in 2012, with the beauty and anti- aging industry as the biggest moneymaker, hauling in $679 billion (Belena, 2013). In the Philippine scene, the wellness industry had grown from scratch to earn $25.3 million last year. It is predicted that by the year 2022, tourism and alternative health care will emerge as the world's biggest industries. The Philippines is expected to play a pivotal role in this industry for the following reasons: availability of educated pool of professionals, natural wealth and a wide range of medicinal herbs and aromatic plants. The increasing demand for health and wellness products has been spurred by several factors. These include 1) an increasing incidence of aging population, 2) consumer awareness about general health and well-being (thanks to the internet), 3) high prices and low availablity of drugs which have become unaffordable to the majority of Filipinos (HAIN, 2009) and 4) a changing lifestyle. The modern diet contains more processed foods, some of which have an inherent high fat and salt content, coupled with a declining consumption of fresh vegetables, fresh fish, fresh fruits, and unprocessed cereals. It is, thus, not surprising that most of the top ten causes of death in the Philippines in 2010 are related to a modern lifestyle: 1. heart disease 2. stroke. 3. cancer 4. pneumonia 5. tuberculosis 6. chronic lower respiratory diseases 7. diabetes 8. kidney failure 9. maternal deaths and 10. assault (NSO 2013).