Philippines: NTA Meets Farmers for Consultations

Source from:  Manila Bulletin  02/21/2014

The National Tobacco Administration has started consultations with tobacco farmers' groups, stakeholders and local government units from tobacco producing provinces, according to Administrator Edgar D. Zaragoza.

Zaragoza said Thursday the consultations are aimed at gathering inputs for the enhancement of the implementing rules and regulations on the use of the increased excise taxes imposed on cigarettes.

VERITABLE CASH CROP – Yes, Virginia, they still hold Virginia tobaccos as the top cash crop in the Ilocos Region, shown in this file photo, with farmer Remigio Datu of Burgos in Ilocos Sur trying to beat the deadline of the closed season in tobacco trading.

He was scheduled to meet the tobacco farmers' groups from Northern Luzon in Pangasinan yesterday.

Tomorrow he will have a consultation-meeting with all the mayors from the tobacco producing provinces in Northern Luzon in Candon City, Ilocos Sur.

Last February 8, he had another consultation-meeting with the tobacco farmers, who were members of the National Federation of Tobacco Grower Associations and Cooperatives in Bauang, La Union during the launching of the Mighty Corporation's corporate social responsibility project.

Zaragoza said with the Department of Finance and the Department of Budget and Management, his office was working on an IRR to ensure that excise taxes from cigarettes will directly benefit tobacco farmers.

"In 2013, excise tax collection from tobacco increased by almost P35 billion. From P32 billion in 2012, it became P67 billion in 2013," said Zaragoza, who met here on Saturday with officials and members of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers' Associations and Cooperatives.

The increase in excise taxes was triggered by the enactment in December 2012 of Republic Act No. 10351, or the Sin Tax Reform Law, which levies higher taxes on cigarettes and liquor. The law took effect in January 2013.

Under the law, a portion of revenue collected will be allocated to projects that will benefit tobacco farmers and workers nationwide in addition to the tobacco farmers' livelihood support under RA 7171 and RA 8240.

Meanwhile, Zaragoza lauded the effort of the Mighty Corporation for giving all-out support to tobacco famers through its CSR program.

"The more players dealing directly with the farmers, the better and merrier; this is a big boost to the tobacco industry," said Zaragoza, replying to questions on his reaction to the recent Mighty Corporation's launching of its CSR in the tobacco-growing region.

He led top officials of the tobacco industry in attending the launching of Mighty's outreach program that directly gives assistance to tobacco farmers and their families in Ilocandia and Cagayan Valley.

"Other players in the industry like Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation, Universal Leaf and Trans Manila have their own corporate social responsibility programs. Mighty's entry will increase the assistance being extended to tobacco farmers by cigarette manufacturers and exporters," Zaragoza said, adding "this should encourage other cigarette players to do same to help the tobacco farmers and their familes."

Tobacco is known to be one crop that could thrive without rainfall and irrigation systems.

Most tobacco farmers plant the crop with water pumps as their main system of watering the dry season crop.

Mighty earlier announced it is ready to buy 10 million kilograms of tobacco leaves directly from farmers.

In addition, the emerging player promised to buy all the leaves that other players in the industry could not absorb.

Farmers have been producing an average 70 million kilos of the golden leaf in the past five years, half of which had been sold to cigarette manufacturers with another half exported to markets abroad.

The 10 million kilograms Mighty promised to buy represents one fifth of tobacco leaves sold to local cigarette manufacturers. Enditem