VIGAN, Ilocos Sur—Representatives from the country’s top tobacco-producing provinces will lead local officials, farmers and their leaders to express their strong opposition to House Bill 5727, the Palace version of the tobacco excise-tax bill, which they said would destroy the tobacco industry and kill the livelihood of some 2.7 million tobacco farmers and their dependents.

At least 100 farmers are expected to express their plight through a rally in front of Congress Tuesday.

The group is also scheduled to meet with Rep. Isidro Ungab who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee to air their oppostion to the house bill. Ungab is the Third District representative of Davao City.

The Ilocos Region congressmen vowed to push instead for the adoption of subcommittee Report No. 6 presented by the subcommittee of the House Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson Jr., which retains the current excise tax structure on tobacco and alcohol products.

In a recent letter endorsed by Ilocos Sur Vice Gov. Deogracias Victor Savellano, the “Ilocano” group urged Ungab to allow them the opportunity to present their position before the committee, being the most affected stakeholders of the tobacco industry.

“Considering that an increase on the excise tax on tobacco products will have an impact on the demand for tobacco leaf and on the livelihood of tobacco farmers in the tobacco-growing regions, we would like to present the position of tobacco farmers and local government units in our region regarding the pending House bills on excise tax on alcohol and tobacco products before the Committee on Ways and Means makes any decision,” the local executives said in the letter.

“Our principal crop has always been tobacco and many of our constituents are tobacco farmers who have been planting tobacco for generations. Tobacco is and will be our principal source of livelihood,” they said.

The local officials from the provinces of La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte and other provinces in Northern Luzon said House Bill 5727 will put to waste the efforts being exerted by the farmers, local government units, the Department of Agriculture and the private sector to pump up the local tobacco industry. Recent efforts were seen to have resulted in increased tobacco output as well as the sustained livelihood of the million families and individuals who rely on tobacco production for their livelihood.

HB 5727 seeks to abolish the four-tiered excise tax structure in favor of a unitary system, which increases by as much as 1,000 percent the excise tax on low-priced cigarette brands which comprise 60 percent of the country’s entire tobacco output.

“More than two million Filipinos are dependent on the tobacco industry for their livelihood, the majority of whom are tobacco farmers from the Ilocos Region.  Retaining the current tax structure provides for a reasonable increase in excise tax rates and ensures a steady and reliable steam of revenue for the government,” the local officials added.

Supporting the position of the local executives in the province, tobacco farmers held an indignation rally at the provincial capitol last Feb. 7. They vowed to continue to hold mass actions to express their opposition to House Bill 5727, which would literally kill the main source of their livelihood. 

“Ang pagtatanim ng tabako ang kabuhayan namin.  Ito ang nagpapaaral sa aming mga anak.  Huwag ninyo kaming alisan ng kabuhayan,” said Ruben Perez, barangay captain of Cabulalaan, Sinait town in Ilocos Sur. “Sa tagal na panahon ng aming pagtatanim, kami ay tahimik lamang sa aming hanapbuhay.  Ngayon, kailangan naming magsalita.” 

Renato Aguilar, an officer of the San Juan Ilocos Sur Tobacco Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative, said: “Hindi namin iniwan ang tabako kahit noong panahon na humina ito.  Ngayon na bumuti na ulit ang kalagayan ng pagtatabako sa tulong ng local na gobyerno, ng Department of Agriculture at pribadong sector, ipaglalaban namin ito.”

Recently, a Malacanang order sought additional revenues, including among othersm an increase in the government’s tax collection. As an offshoot, HB 5727  was proposed in Congress which would directly affect the 2.7 million small tobacco farmers who rely on the agricultural crop for income.