Tobacco Farmers Back Pangilinan

Source from:  VIGAN CITY mb.com.ph 05/22/2006

Tobacco farmers' groups here last Saturday pledged their all-out support to the leadership of Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban after the latter launched a program for the continued upliftment of the tobacco industry. Carlos Cachola, president of the Philippines Association of Tobacco-Based Cooperatives (PATCO) – the country's biggest tobacco farmer's organization, said that Secretary Panganiban has been "aggressively" pushing the interests of local tobacco growers so they can get better prices for their produce. He cited Panganiban's initiative to alleviate the condition f the farmers after freak rains destroyed their harvestible tobacco crops early this year. Meanwhile, Sixto Garcia , chairman of Buklod ng Mga Magtatanim ng Tabako (BUMANAT), described Panganiban as a "true blue" agriculture chief and "who is a pro-farmer by heart." He also cited how, in collaboration with the National Tobacco Administration headed by Carlitos Encarnacion, Panganiban helped in providing distressed tobacco farmers with alternative livelihood through a government-financed vegetable production project. Andy Reyes, PATCO vice president, said: "We hope we will have him for a long time." Enditem