Church Officials Backs Owners of Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation

Cagayan church officials expressed support to the owners of Bulacan-based cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp, who have currently been under siege for its low prices.

Competitors and even some legislators have thrown all kinds of accusations to Mighty Corporation in the past months but earlier this year, the local tobacco company finds an ally in church groups as well as with BIR and Customs who already said that allegations against the corporation are baseless and therefore dismissed. 

Bulacan Archbishop Emeritus Diosdado Talamayan of the Archdiocese of Cagayan said that the Wongchuking family, which owns Mighty Corporation, were great devotees of the Our Lady of Piat.

“For the past many years, I have known personally Mrs. Nelia Wongchuking, chair of the board of trustees of Wong Chu King Foundation Inc.,” said Talamayan, “She, together with the entire family, are great devotees of the Our Lady of Piat.”

Bishop Talamayan said that the Wongchukings even built a chapel dedicated to the Our Lady of Piat in Malolos.

Oscar Barrientos, Mighty Corp executive vice president asked the firm’s competitors to do battle in the sales market and not resort to dirty tactics.  

Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation Pursues Social Responsibility Projects

La Union Bishop Rodolfo Beltran has commended Wong Chu King Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of local cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp for helping the church to spread the faith in the Philippines and for prioritizing apostolic works and education in its programs and projects.

According to Beltran, the foundation has so far funded the education of poor but deserving students in Lagawe, Bontoc including four seminarians and other students of vocational courses like sewing, weaving and hairstyling.

“The parents of these students are low-income farmers producing only for local consumption, so you can imagine the positive impact this kind of support has for them.”  the Bishop said.

Beltran also commended Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation for their outreach project that aims to benefit 65,000 organized tobacco farmers of Northern Luzon.

The bishop has witnessed the signing of the project agreement between Mighty Corporation and 200 farmer leaders of the National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives Inc. (NAFTAC) from Pangasinan, La Union, Abra, Cagayan, Isabela, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur at a hotel here recently.

Under the agreement, Mighty Corp will donate to the farmers 16 hand tractors worth P2.5 million and 90 irrigation pumps worth P1.1 million.

“I’m quite happy about all these projects. It’s a big lift for our farmers, not only in La Union but also the whole of Northern Luzon,” Beltran said. “This is something very beautiful as the hand tractors and water pumps encourage our farmers to use modern methods of agriculture.” he added.

Auxiliary Bishop of Tuguegarao Ricardo Baccay described Mighty Corp and Wong Chu King Foundation's work as “a step in the right direction."

“For many years, I have personally known Mrs. Nelia Wong Chu King, Wong Chu King Foundation chairman of the board of trustees,” said Archbishop Emeritus Diosdado Talamayan of Tuguegarao City. “She and her family are great devotees of the Our Lady of Piat, and they have erected a chapel in Malolos City, Bulacan, dedicated to the Our Lady of Piat, which was blessed by many bishops led by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales in 2012.”

Created in 1990, Mighty Corporation's Wong Chu King Foundation aims to perpetuate the memory of Wong Chu King, the family patriarch, an avowed philanthropist who was concerned for the plight of, and provided timely assistance to, the poor and underprivileged during his lifetime. The foundation also aims to encourage and promote education through scholarship programs and raise funds for charitable, cultural and educational purposes.

Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation Backs Seismic Retrofitting of Historic Churches

Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp with the help of their CSR arm Wong Chu King Foundation, pushes forward in assisting various historical churches in their renovation projects.

The Catholic clergy on the other hand fully supports the project of Mighty Corporation and Wong Chu King Foundation for the seismic retrofitting of historic churches in Philippines

The foundation has so far assisted the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Church in Naic, Cavite and the Basilica Minore of the Our Lady of Piat Church in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.

Auxiliary Bishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao City, described Mighty Corp's work as “a step in the right direction.”

"My diocese, like all dioceses, have serious concerns. If Mighty Corp and Wong Chu King Foundation is out to help, retrofitting historic churches is one of the best forms of help it can give.” Baccay said in a statement released by the foundation.

"Churches are also symbols of strength and hope for Filipinos. To see a church survive earthquakes and other calamities can easily uplift the spirits of our people,” said Wong Chu King Foundation General Manager James Vincent Navarette.

“The devastation brought about by the recent Visayas earthquake has firmed up our advocacy to build more churches and strengthen the Filipino faith. However, we also understand that this is not enough. We have to make sure that the design and structure of these buildings, particularly the old and existing ones, are safe and resistant to calamities such as earthquakes.” Navarette added.

Seismic retrofitting is the process of remodeling structures to make them more resistant to damage brought about by earthquakes and other seismic activities.

Mighty Corporation through the Wong Chu King foundation has been renovating churches since 2009.  Last year, they have donated P300,000 for textbooks and other library materials for the Lyceum de Amulung in Cagayan North, Tuguegarao City.

The foundation is headed by Mrs. Nelia Wongchuking, Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

NAFTAC Signs Joint Project Agreement with Mighty Corporation

The National Federation of Tobacco Farmers and Cooperatives (NAFTAC) and Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp recently signed an agreement for a joint agricultural project to help uplift the lives of tobacco farmers in Northern Luzon with the theme "Sama-Sama Tayong Pilipino sa PAgyabong ng Industriya ng Tabako." 

Mighty Corp executives, retired general Edilberto P. Adan and retired judge Oscar P. Barrientos together and NAFTAC head Mario Cabasal signed the agreement in La Union.

Prior to the signing a consultative meeting was held between 200 tobacco farmer leaders in Pangasinan, La Union, Abra and the Ilocos provinces and Mighty Corporation.  It was highlighted by the turn over of 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.  All donations was coursed through by Mighty Corporation to its CSR arm Wong Chu King Foundation.

“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 also lauded Mighty Corp's latest announcement of a P10-million three-pronged programs to 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.

Wong Chu King Foundation Funds Xavier School Chapel Construction

Wong Chu King Foundation, a non-government organization that supports education is funding the construction of the Sacred Heart Chapel of the Senior High School Building of Xavier School in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Wong Chu King Foundation Vice President Caesar Wongchuking said that the project was in line with the passion of his father to help the poor through various programs particularly centered on education.

The new Sacred Heart Chapel is dedicated “in loving memory of the friendship” of Mr. Wongchuking and Jesuit priests Jean Desautels and Ismael Zuloaga.

Fr. Desautels, a French-Canadian Jesuit priest was one of the school’s founders and its first president and director.  While Fr. Zuloaga was the school’s longest-serving president and director at 19 years, from 1966 to 1985. The school is named after St. Francis Xavier, one of the first leaders of the Jesuit missions in China.

A lot of people didn't know that Wongchuking was one of the school’s founding donors.  

“All of us, my siblings and I, graduated from Xavier School and imbibed the Jesuit’s God, education and service-centered mission,” Caesar Wongchuking recalled.  

Meanwhile, Wong Chu King Foundation Executive Director Alex Wongchuking said, “This project is our way of honoring our father’s friendship with the Jesuit community and paying forward for the excellent education we received from the school.”

The foundation also funds the education of hundreds of poor but deserving students all over the country.

Wong Chu King Foundation is the corporate social arm of Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp, the only wholly Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company in the Philippines.

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 Restores Cavite Church and Preserves History

A duty to church and society!

This is how the Wong Chu King Foundation sees its group's mission in restoring historic churches and other religious structures.

Take for example the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary in Naic, Cavite which the foundation, with the help of Mighty Corporation, has recently restored to its former glory in March this year.

As we all know, some of the Important events in the history of our nation took place inside the walls of our churches.  These landmarks played a vital role in the lives of many Filipinos and are enduring symbols of the Catholic faith in the Philippines.

The Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary is one of the oldest and largest church in the coastal town along Manila Bay and stood as a precious link to our ante-bellum Spanish colonial past.  Spanish friars built the church as a low-roofed stone structure in 1835 but was rebuilt and completed with a neo-Gothic convent complex in 1872. The church played a role in the fight of Filipinos for independence against Spanish, American and Japanese conquerors.

“We cannot allow this historic church to go into a state of disrepair,” said Alex Wongchuking, Executive Director of the Wong Chu King Foundation, which has devoted its resources to rebuilding churches in the country, helping the poor get education and doing other charitable works.

The Wong Chu King Foundation is the social arm of Mighty Corporation or Mighty Corp, the first and only Filipino-owned cigarette manufacturing company in the Philippines. Wongchuking completed reconstruction work on the shrine last February and the official turn-over was held last March 30, on the occasion of the foundation’s 24th anniversary.

“The church strengthened the Filipino faith and it stands as a mute witness to the martyrdom of the defenders of Philippine freedom and nationhood,” Wongchuking said.

Cavite Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista said that the restoration of the church to its original architecture will “encourage people to grow in their faith, in a life of prayer and in a life of holiness, which is God’s desire for all of us.”

The Bishop also said that the roof and the walls of the shrine were crumbling and the church’s interior gradually deteriorating, Wong Chu King Foundation came like an answered prayer to them.

“With this beautiful church, one can say that the presence of God is really felt by the people,” Bishop Evangelista concluded.

Mrs. Nelia Dy Wongchuking, Wong Chu King Foundation President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, was born in Naic and has fond memories of the church of her youth.

The young Nelia met her husband, Wongchuking, in the church vicinity while the latter was selling cigarettes, and their love blossomed against the backdrop of this ancient and historical landscape.  Wongchuking later founded La Campana Fabrica de Tobacos shortly after the end of World War II.  Both Wongchuking and his wife, Nelia, were a simple, hard-working and religious couple. The Christian values they brought to their workplace shaped the company that is now known as Mighty Corporation.

Wongchuking died several years ago but his legacy lives through the foundation which was put up in 1990 to perpetuate his name through scholarship programs, cultural and charitable activities.

In addition to rebuilding the Diocesan Shrine of the Immaculate Concepcion of Mary, the foundation also built a new garden with a fountain for the parish, said Wong Chu King Foundation General Manager James Navarette said.

Mighty Corp President Edilberto Adan said the church was restored to its 19th century architectural design, but the scars made by cannon blasts on church walls were retained to preserve its history. 

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.