Mighty Corporation Assured Farmers of Tobacco Leaf Purchase

Pangasinan and Ilocos farmers have expressed relief that their tobacco leaves will have a sure market this year because of local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp.

The National Federation of Tobacco Growers and Cooperatives (NFTGC) President Mario Cabasal was elated after learning that Mighty Corporation has made commitments to initially buy at least 10 million kilograms of tobacco leaves at an average price of P70 per kilo and buy all the excess tobacco leaves that farmers could not sell to other buyers.

“We limited to minimum areas fields planted to tobacco last year in anticipation of depressed demand due to the scheduled implementation of the sin tax,” Cabasal said. “good thing, some farmers were able to sell part of their low-grade harvests to Mighty Corporation in 2013,” he pointed out.

“Now that we are assured of an alternative market, besides other tobacco companies, our members will again be inspired to devote larger areas to the cultivation of Ilocandia’s most important cash crop,” he added.

Fearing that tobacco prices and demand for the yellow leaf would dive as a result of the new excise tax law on cigarettes, many farmers in the Ilocos Region shifted to planting yellow corn.  Profits from corn are, however, lower than tobacco.

BIR Rakes in 8 Billion Pesos From Mighty Corporation

According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the excise tax paid by Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp made a quantum leap from P300 million in 2012 to at least P8 billion for the whole year of 2013.

Mighty Corporation Spokesperson Oscar Barrientos added that the tax paid for the year 2013 by the Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company just past reflects the jump in the market share of the company and their fair share in the increased taxes on “sin” products.

Barrientos, a retired regional trial court judge, said the facts should put to rest false accusations that Mighty Corporation has not been paying its taxes faithfully.

He further pointed out that despite charges in the news media and by some members of Congress against the company, no case has been filed in court.

In fact, Barrientos pointed out, the BIR and the Bureau of Customs have cleared his company of any tax deficiency this year.

The company paid P300 million in 2012, the former judge explained, when its share of the local market of cigarette was a measly 3%.  This share shot up since the government put into effect Republic Act 10352, otherwise known as the new sin tax law.

The law has synchronized a five-year adjustment of taxes on cigarettes for it to become a uniform P30 per pack in five years covering all brands.

Records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had shown that excise taxes from both cigarettes and alcohol products increased by 81.5 percent despite a decline in the number of sticks sold.  Total tax take from January to November hit an all-time high of P91.6 billion from P60.4 billion in 2012.

Taxes from cigarettes represented 61.6 percent or almost two thirds of sin tax collections for 11 months.

Mighty Corporation which until the year 2012, was a minor player, pitched in more than P8 billion of the excise tax, not to mention the income tax the company will have to pay for the same year come deadline time.

Mighty Corporation Makes it Double

Local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp said that it will buy 10 million kilograms of tobacco products worth millions of pesos from farmers in Northern Luzon and elsewhere in the country.

Mighty Corp executive vice president Oscar Barrientos said to National Tobacco Administration (NTA) administrator Edgardo Zaragoza that it would buy tobacco from farmers 100% more than the 5 million kilograms his firm bought in 2013.

That means double income for the farmers.

“This is to assure our tobacco farmers of our willingness to help in response to the published report of the market leader in the tobacco industry to lessen production this year,” Barrientos said.

This debunked critics’ allegations that Mighty Corporation has been importing raw materials from foreign countries at low prices and is no longer buying tobacco from local farmers.

Barrientos said that Mighty Corp critics had been resorting to a disinformation campaign using convoluted data in an effort to undermine Mighty Corporation's tremendous increase of the tobacco industry's market shares.

Might Corp's shares surged to almost 20% of the low-priced cigarette brands last year from in 2012, resulting in the payment P8.2 billion in excise taxes.

Barrientos said the company’s market shares shot up after the government effectively implemented Republic Act 10352, or the new Sin Tax Law, that levelled the playing field in the multi-billion peso tobacco industry which was controlled by Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco.

The new law that took 14 years to pass caused a tremendous migration of smokers from the expensive premium and sub-premium brands to low-priced cigarettes.

It also resulted in some smokers, because of economic reason, to simply quit the vice and thus validated health authorities’ estimate that the sin tax law would result in the decrease of the number of smokers in the country.

Mighty Corporation Pushes For Organic Agri Pesticide

Aside from cigarettes, tobacco leaves can also be used as organic pesticides against aphids, leaf rollers and stem borers.  It is also said to be more effective and much safer than chemical-based pesticides which destroys soil productivity and harm the environment.

Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company Mighty Corporation or Might Corp plans to develop and promote the alternative use for tobacco, to help reduce Filipino farmers’ reliance on chemical-based pesticides, increase tobacco farmers’ income, and protect the environment.

Mighty Corp executive vice president Oscar Barrientos said that the move was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.  He noted that a small but growing number of Filipino farmers were shifting from chemical-based to organic pesticides to organic agri pesticides, or a combination of the two.

The company coordinated with key agencies like the National Tobacco Administration (NTA), Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB) in this effort.

Filipino farmers make up 11.55 million of the country’s 38.6-million-member labor force and contribute 20% of its gross domestic product.  Insects and other pests have adversely affected farmers’ production of main agricultural crops, including rice, corn, coconuts, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, coffee, mangoes and abaca.  Also affected are secondary crops like peanuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, cabbages, eggplants, calamansi, rubber, and cotton. Nicotine from tobacco has been used on crops as a natural insecticide that does not have the health and environmental risks of chemical-based pesticides.

Mighty Corporation Delivers More Help to North Luzon Farmers

Mighty Corporation and organized tobacco farmer groups signed an agreement to pursue projects designed to uplift the lives of farming families of Northern Luzon.

With the theme “Sama-sama Tayong Pilipino sa Pagyabong ng Industriya ng Tabako” Mighty Corporation executives, retired general Edilberto P. Adan and retired judge Oscar P. Barrientos, and Mario Cabasal, head of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives, Inc. (NAFTAC) recently celebrated the partnership with all 200 tobacco farmer leaders in Pangasinan, La Union, Abra and the Ilocos provinces.

Mighty Corporation executives through the Wong Chu King Foundation handed over 16 units of hand tractors worth P2.5 million and 90 units of water pumps worth P1.1 million to chapter delegations from seven provinces in Northern Luzon during the event.

“We are happy that Mighty Corporation has stood firm on its commitments to help the 65,000 strong tobacco farmers in the Philippines with their pronouncements this year to purchase 10-million kilograms of tobacco leaves and the P10-million outreach projects for tobacco farmers,” said Cabasal after the agreement was signed by the new partners. “This is definitely a big help to us, tobacco farmers,” added Cabasal.

Cabasal lauded Mighty Corporation for the P10-million three-pronged programs that will directly help tobacco farmers produce better quality tobacco that included the donation of support farm implements like irrigation pumps and tractors, sponsoring new 100 college scholar grants for the sons and daughters of tobacco farmers and the institutional support for the annual search for outstanding tobacco farmers and cooperatives.

Mighty Corp Doubles Leaf Purchases From Local Farmers

Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp is known to be as the Philippines number one producer of low-priced brands of cigarettes.

The first and only filipino-owned cigarette manufacturer in the country recently announced that it will double its purchase of raw tobacco products from local farmers in Northern Luzon this year amounting to millions of pesos of additional income for the local tobacco industry.

Mighty Corp Executive Vice President Oscar P. Barrientos said in an official letter to the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) Head Edgardo Zaragoza,  that it would buy tobacco from local farmers 100% more than the 5 million kilograms his firm bought in 2013.

“This is to assure our tobacco farmers of our willingness to help in response to the published report of the market leader in the tobacco industry to lessen production this year,” Barrientos said.

In effect, the announcement debunked critics’ allegations that Mighty Corp has been importing raw materials from foreign countries at low prices and is no longer buying tobacco from local farmers.

Barrientos also revealed that critics had been resorting to a disinformation campaign using convoluted data in an effort to undermine Mighty Corp's tremendous increase in the tobacco industry's market shares which soared to almost 20% on its low-priced cigarette brands last year, resulting in the payment P8.2 billion in excise taxes to the government.

Barrientos said that the increase is expected since the government already effectively implemented Republic Act 10352, or the Sin Tax Law, that leveled the playing field in the multi-billion peso industry controlled by Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco.

The new Sin Tax Law that took 14 years to pass caused a tremendous migration of smokers from the expensive premium and sub-premium brands to low-priced cigarettes.

It also resulted in some smokers to simply quit the smoking and validated health authorities’ estimate that the new law would result in the decrease of the number of smokers in the country.

Wong Chu King Foundation and Mighty Corp Brings Hope to Filipino Tobacco Farmers

Wong Chu King Foundation the corporate social responsibility arm of local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation provided educational assistance to some 100 poor but deserving students and children of tobacco farmers in Northern Luzon.

Mighty Corporation (Mighty Corp) President and Retired General Edilberto Adan said that the college scholarship grant was coursed through the Wong Chu King Foundation and is part of the 10 million pesos joint projects between Mighty Corp and the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives Inc. (NAFTAC) that aims to help about 65,000 farmers in Pangasinan, La Union, Abra, Cagayan, Isabella, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

“Education is known to be a powerful equalizer. It gives children from low-income families a fighting chance to uplift themselves and their families from poverty and lead productive and meaningful lives.” said Adan.

The college scholarship program of Wong Chu King and Mighty Corp is a supplemental program to the scholarship projects of the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) for all graduating high school students and dependents of tobacco farmers.

“This is our way of thanking the farmers for helping to make our company what it is today,”  Adan said during the formal signing of the project at a hotel in Bauang, La Union last February 8.

NAFTAC National President Mario Cabasal said that the group is very happy that Mighty Corp has stood firm on its commitment to help the tobacco farmers in the Philippines.

Mighty Corp Executive Vice President and Retired Judge Oscar Barrientos said that Wong Chu King Foundation initially offered the scholarship program to the dependents of active Mighty Corp employees but later expanded it to include dependents of retired employees with excellent academic records.

“Through this program, we hope to help the farmers and their children become competitive in the global market and earn sustainable incomes,” Barrientos said.

The foundation currently has 6 high school and 14 college students on scholarship in various schools nationwide. Two of the scholars graduated last year.

James Rommel Silao graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Chemistry from UP Diliman. He is now a chemist at the Mighty Corp manufacturing facility in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Abigail Punongbayan, the daughter of Conching Ong Punongbayan, production head of   Mighty Corp, graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Medical Technology at UST. She is now taking up medicine.