Philippines: Tobacco Farmers Appeal WHO Plan

Source from:  Manila Bulletin (ph)  09/17/2012

The Philippine Tobacco Growers Association (PTGA) said the proposals of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to eradicate tobacco growing has serious implication because this industry sustains the livelihood of more than 30 million tobacco farmers worldwide. Saturnino Distor, PTGA President, said the Filipino tobacco growers are going to fight for the survival of the tobacco industry, vowing to join the global protest against the proposals of WHO-FCTC. "We will not take this issue sitting down. We will do everything we can to fight for the survival of the tobacco industry not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well," Distor said in a statement. Distor appealed to President Benigno S. Aquino III to protect the interest of the tobacco farmers and the more than 2.7 million dependents and stakeholders of the local tobacco industry by opposing the moves of the WHO-FCTC to obliterate tobacco growing. "Tobacco growing has been and will always be the main source of our livelihood. Our forefathers passed this to us and this is the only job we know. We will perish if the Aquino government decides to agree with the proposals," Distor said. Distor also urged the Philippine government to join hands with other nations in fighting the repressive proposals being pushed by WHO-FCTC. "Now is the time for governments to act and oppose these draconian measures," Distor said. The PTGA joined the International Tobacco Growers Association in launching a global petition campaign, available online and through growers associations. The petition calls on government leaders including the Philippines to "reject these irrational and destructive proposals in favour of a more realistic approach that will help tobacco farmers adapt as the demand for tobacco evolves." The WHO-FCTC's mandate is to reduce smoking but its Guiding Principle Number 6 states "the importance of technical and financial assistance to aid the economic transition of tobacco growers and workers whose livelihoods are seriously affected as a consequence of tobacco control programs." In 2008, a Working Group was created to draft recommendations on Articles 17 & 18 of the FCTC that seek to ensure fair and safe working conditions in tobacco growing and an environmentally sustainable production of tobacco and promote economically viable alternatives for tobacco growers and workers. The Working Group, however, abandoned its original mandate and came out with a draft set of recommendations, which was circulated to all member countries of the FCTC, promoting measures that would greatly reduce tobacco growing. The measures include asking the governments to restrict/stop all financial and technical support for tobacco farming; mandate the seasons when tobacco can and cannot be grown; limit, then reduce, the land area where tobacco can be grown; and reduce tobacco production. Distor criticized the Working Group for veering away from its mandate to protect the tobacco farmers, describing its suggestions as misguided, impractical and unrealistic. "The WHO has consistently turned a deaf ear on the pleas of tobacco farmers. Its proposals put the lives of some 2.7-million Filipino tobacco farmers and their dependents at risk without offering them economically viable alternative crops," Distor said. Asuncion Lopez, spokesperson for PTGA, said the proposals of WHO-FCTC will trigger high incidence of poverty not only in the Philippines but in other parts of the world as well because tobacco growers will never find a crop that is as economically viable as tobacco. "There is no alternative crop; it will always be tobacco. Eliminating tobacco growing is as good as removing the life support system of tobacco farmers." Lopez also said the proposal to mandate the period and place where tobacco can be grown is not applicable, particularly in the Philippines. "You cannot plant tobacco during wet season. Neither can you grow the crop anywhere in the Philippines. The current sites of tobacco plantations in the Philippines are the most ideal sites." Enditem