The National Tobacco Administration strongly supports the statements of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade and Industry in the recent 9th Conference of Parties (COP 9) by the World Health Organization Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).
The tobacco industry in the Philippines continues to dominate the agricultural, economic, social and political aspects of the country. It has proved that among the non-food crops in the agriculture sector, tobacco has been grown commercially, steadily contributing its part to the economy.
Many in the country see the tobacco as a risk to every Filipinos’ health, going as far as saying that products made from tobacco are no good.
But there is more than the tobacco industry. For one, tobacco tax laws fund the country’s universal health care, contributing to as much as 85%. The tax laws also fund government’s programs focused on the economic recovery.
Lastly, the tobacco industry helps the national government curb the country’s poverty by providing jobs for millions of farmers, which is vital as the world is currently slowly recovering from the onslaught brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than anything, we are continuously pushing for a balanced policy on tobacco products, in order to ensure a healthy environment while taking in the interests of our tobacco farmers, and the rest of our stakeholders.