Tobacco raising far from being a dying industry — farmers’ groups

NARVACAN, Ilocos Sur– Two big groups of tobacco farmers have come forward to deny allegations claiming that tobacco raising is a dying industry.

Leaders of the Philippine Association of Tobacco-based Cooperatives(PATCO) and the Buklod ng mga Manggagawa ng Tabako (BUMANAT) said, that on the contrary, the tobacco industry is "very much strong and alive."

PATCO president Carlos Cachola and Sixto Garcia, BUMANAT chairman, told newsmen that tobacco as a dying venture is a mindset created by the deluge of anti-smoking propaganda that is being waged around the world.

"This is pure hogwash," Cachola and Garcia stressed.

They said that, in the Philippines, tobacco farming has become a high-earning activity with tobacco giving out more income to the farmers than from other crops.

"It (tobacco) has been our chief cash crop and have subsidized the college education of farmers’ children since time immemorial," they said.

Cachola also cited the industry’s huge contribution to the national coffer and the economy in terms of the tobacco excise taxes collected annually.

He said that P25-billion was collected last year which he said may rise up to P38 billion next year because of additional revenues generated from the sin tax laws passed by Congress.

Dying? No," Cachola insisted.

He said that labelling tobacco as a "dying" or "sunset industry" is unfair.

He said that their high quality yields posted with the "strong presence" and assistance of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) through the agency’s Tobacco Contract Growing Scheme (TCGS) and subsequently the farmers’ increased incomes are testimonies that local tobacco is going stronger and is here to stay.

The PATCO and BUMANAT leaders also said that for the first time the price of premium grade virginia tobacco reached P75 per kilo last season from P50 to P60 previously.

"For the first time too, neutral grades fetched P60 per kilo from P40 to P50 in previous seasons," they added.

They said that any plan to phase out the crop, at a time when the economy is critical and when tobacco farming is in a win-win situation, is uncalled for.

"You can expect tobacco farmers to vehemently oppose it," Cachola and Garcia said.