Growers say prices too low

The Philippines’ National Tobacco Administration (NTA) on Tuesday appealed to tobacco growers in the Ilocos Norte region to sell their tobacco only to licensed traders, according to a story by Leilanie Adriano for the Philippines News Agency.

The appeal was purportedly made ‘to ensure [a] fair market price’.

The NTA officer-in-charge, Luzviminda Padayao, said there were at least two NTA-licensed buying stations located in Batac city and Currimao town where growers could offer their tobacco.

“We have no control over cowboys/traders who are going to villages to buy tobacco leaves,” she said in an interview on Tuesday. “These NTA-licensed buying stations are being monitored through the use of prescribed trading forms such as purchase invoice vouchers (PIVs) and certificate of purchase.”

But as Padayao was speaking some growers in the province were coming together to appeal to the concerned authorities to increase the price of tobacco this season.

The current tobacco price ranges from PHP60 to PHP75 per kg, but it was suggested that this should be increased up to PHP128 per kg as a result of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which had affected production costs.

Growers stretching across several regions are currently staging a five-day protest.