25 years of tobacco excise tax, farmers still troubled
CANDON CITY, ILOCOS SUR – More than 35,000 tobacco farmers in the Ilocos region still face trouble despite nearly three decades of millions of funds from the tobacco excise taxes handed to local government units.
The budget department’s Local Budget Memorandum No. 71 on September 21, 2015 and Memorandum Nos. 72 ken 73 dated Marso 8, 2016 show that some P10.72 billion have been received by Ilocos region provinces from its share of the excise taxes from tobacco (RA 7171).
Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte and La Union received a total of P9.11 billion for the 359 million kilograms of tobacco produced in 2013, DBM also showed.
Likewise the finance department said that some P91.60 billion was collected from tobacco in 2016 and at least P120.66 billion in 2017.
Despite of the huge taxes coming from the industry, however, cries Zaldy Alfiler, leader of the peasant group Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation, tobacco farmers face unending troubles as these billions of funds are often misused.
This dry season when tobacco farming is at its peak, troubles also peak, Alfiler said. Though thousands of lowly tobacco farmers dreams of good harvest from their daily toils of bringing out the best tobacco leaves.
But to their continued dismay, Alfiler bares, tobacco farmers also cry is despair ‘while middlemen and trading centers have a hearty laugh’. Prices are low while price manipulation through downgrading, under weighing, threats for stop buying (Semana Santa syndrome) continue, he bewails.
For 25 years of R.A. 7171 penned by former Ilocos Sur governor, now Narvacan town councilor Luis “Chavit” Singson, their own provincemate, tobacco farmers had been losing from their toils even as local government units get their hefty excise tax shares.
DBM shows that a total of 40 percent of budgets of LGUs in the Ilocos region from the collected tobacco excise taxes for the past five years.
But these millions doesn’t benefit tobacco farmers, Alfiler blurts out. ”Saan met a mapakpakinabangan dagiti mannalon gapu iti pananggamulo wenno discretion dagiti LGUs nu kasano a busbosen ti nasao a pondo”.
Most LGUs, Alfiler continues, spend tobacco excise tax shares without referring to RA 7171’s mission citing anomalies spilled recently about how Ilocos Norte spent P1.5 billion including the questionable P66.45 million for multicabs, P193.4 million for medicines, books, sanitizer, Coaster vehicle, uniforms, sprayer and foliar fertilizer from RA 7171 tax shares.
STOP Exploitation reminds that RA7171 clearly states that only 1) farmers cooperatives, 2) livelihood project 3) agro-industrial projects and 4) infrastructure like farm-to-market roads could be funded by tobacco excise taxes.
The P10.72 billion total shares of the Ilocos provinces could have well assisted the 37,000 tobacco farmers overcome their woes, Alfiler explains, citing irrigation facilities that would have watered 26,805 hectares or funded 4,765 good-quality tractors.
NTA inaction?
While again urging LGUs in the Ilocos region to follow the intent of RA 7171, especially its funds, STOP Exploitation also press them to “automatically appropriate funds as financial support to farmers especially during calamities.”
“Kidkiddawenmi pay ti uray P10 laeng nga insentibo iti kada kilo ti tabako mi wenno P20 ribu a nayon ti pastrekmi iti kada ektarya.”
Tobacco farmers are also demanding the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) to be on its toes “to ensure that all projects funded by RA7171 directly benefit farmers as cited in Rule VIII Section 3 of Joint Circular No.001-2014 as issued by the Department of Finance.”
Tobacco farmers also said the NTA is falling short of resolving the unfair contract farming provisions imposed by trading centers and tobacco companies. “Instead of pushing for corruption-ridden agro-industrial structures and token livelihood projects, the NTA should instead throw its support to our proposal for direct monetary incentives and zero-interest loans for farmers chargeable to LGU excise tax shares.” ACE ALEGRE/ ABN
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April 21, 2018